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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


CHRISTIAN   FREDERICK   HEYER 


The  Telugu  Mission 

of  the 

General  Council 

of  the 

Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  North  America 

Containing  a  Biography  of  the 

Rev.  Christian  Frederick  Heyer,  M.  D. 


BY 
GEORGE    DRACH  - 

GENERAL  SECRETARY   OF  THE  BOARD    OF  FOREIGN    MISSIONS    OF    THE 

GENERAL    COUNCIL     OF    THE     EVANGELICAL     LUTHERAN     CHURCH    IN 

NORTH  AMERICA 

AND 

CALVIN    F.    KUDER 

MISSIONARY    AT  RAJAHMUNDRY.    INDIA 


PHILADELPHIA 

GENERAL  COUNCIL  PUBLICATION  HOUSE 
1914 


Copyright.  1914.  by  the 

Board  of   Publication  of  the  General  Council  of  the 

Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in 

North   America 


All  rights    reserved 


PREFACE 


AT  the  sixth  convention  of  the  General  Council  of  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  North  America,  held  at 
Akron,  Ohio,  November  7-13,  1872,  a  resolution  was  adopted 
instructing  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Pennsylvania  Min- 
isterium,  which  was  then  entrusted  with  the  administration  of 
the  foreign  mission  work  of  the  General  Council,  to  request 
the  Rev.  C.  F.  Heyer  "to  prepare  for  publication  a  history  of 
his  mission  work  in  India  and  of  the  Missions  there,  with 
which  he  had  been  connected."  The  founder  of  the  American 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Missions  in  India  made  an  effort  to 
comply  with  this  request  and  began  to  copy  and  compile  some 
of  the  letters  which  he  had  written  from  India  to  various  corre- 
spondents in  America;  but  even  the  task  of  copying  what  he 
had  composed  in  the  strength  and  vigor  of  his  manhood  was 
more  than  the  pioneer,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years, 
could  accomplish ;  and  before  he  had  proceeded  very  far,  the 
angel  of  death  called  him  to  his  eternal  reward. 

Since  the  death  of  Dr.  Heyer  much  has  been  written  about 
him,  but  no  serious  effort  has  been  made,  so  far  as  we  know, 
to  write  a  full  and  complete  biography  of  this  remarkable 
man  who  was  not  only  the  first  foreign  missionary  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  in  America,  but  who,  also,  hi  other  spheres 
of  service  as  a  minister  of  the  Church  and  a  preacher  of  the 
Gospel,  as  a  home  missionary,  as  a  pastor  of  congregations  in 
Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  as  an  officer  hi  a  number  of 
synods,  as  a  leader  in  several  important  movements  in  our 
Church  in  his  day,  and  as  one  of  the  founders  of  the  General 
Council,  proved  himself  to  be  a  man  of  unusual  ability,  great 
initiative,  indefatigable  activity,  strong  faith  and  true  piety. 

What  Dr.  Heyer  in  the  feebleness  of  old  age  was  unable  to 
do,  we  have  attempted  to  do  in  the  folio  whig  pages.  We 


2  PREFACE 

offer  this  "history  of  his  mission  work  in  India  and  of  the 
Missions  there  with  which  he  was  connected,"  convinced 
that  the  story  of  this  missionary's  life  and  career  deserves 
to  be  remembered  and  told  from  one  generation  to  another 
in  our  Church,  not  only  because  it  marks  the  beginning  of 
foreign  mission  work  in  our  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in 
America,  but  also  because  it  furnishes  one  of  the  strongest 
incentives  which  can  be  held  out  to  our  people,  both  ministers 
and  congregations,  to  give  their  very  best  efforts  to  the  great 
task  of  carry  ing  the  Gospel  to  all  the  world,  and  to  serve  this 
cause  either  in  person  abroad,  as  called  and  commissioned 
workers,  or  as  regular  supporters  at  home  by  earnest  prayer 
and  systematic  contributions,  in  obedience  to  the  great  com- 
mission of  the  Lord,  our  Saviour,  the  Saviour  of  the  whole 
world. 

GEORGE  DRACH. 

PHILADELPHIA,  Advent,  1913. 


CONTENTS 


PART  I 

CHRISTIAN   FREDERICK   HEYER   AND   THE    AMERICAN   EVAN- 
GELICAL LUTHERAN   MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  FOREIGN  MISSION  WORK  IN  THE  EVAN- 
GELICAL LUTHERAN   CHURCH  IN  AMERICA 

CHAPTER  PAGE 
I. — THE  FIRST  FOREIGN  MISSION  EFFORT  IN  THE  EVANGELICAL  LUTH- 
ERAN CHURCH  IN  AMERICA 1 1 

II. — THE  FIRST  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY,  THE  REV.  C.  F.  HEYER,  M.  D. . .     22 

III. — HEYER'S  FIRST  JOURNEY  TO  INDIA 35 

IV. — THE  SELECTION  OF  THE  FOREIGN  MISSION  FIELD  IN  INDIA 42 

V. — THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  GUNTUR  MISSION 51 

VI. — How  THE  GENERAL  SYNOD  GAINED  CONTROL  OF  THE  GUNTUR 

MISSION 59 

VII. — DR.  HEYER'S  SECOND  TERM  OF  SERVICE  AND  His  SUCCESS  IN  THE 

PALNAD  DISTRICT 72 

VIII. — THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  RAJAHMUNDRY  MISSION  AND  How  IT  BE- 
CAME AN  AMERICAN  MISSION 83 

IX. — THE  FIELD  OF  THE  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 95 

X. — A  PERIOD  OF  TRIALS — HEYER  LEAVES  THE  MISSION 107 

XI. — DR.  HEYER  A  HOME  MISSIONARY  IN  MINNESOTA 114 

XII.— THE  CRISIS 119 

3 


CONTENTS 


PART   II 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  TELUGU  MISSION  OF  THE  GENERAL 
COUNCIL  OF  THE  EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  IN 
NORTH  AMERICA 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — THE  BEGINNING  OF  FOREIGN  MISSION  WORK  IN  THE  GENERAL 

COUNCIL  (1869) 133 

II. — HEYER  COMPLETES  His  LIFE-WORK  (1870) 143 

III. — THE  GENERAL  COUNCIL'S  MISSION  FIELD  IN  INDIA 156 

IV. — STRUGGLING  FOR  EXISTENCE  (1871-74) 162 

V. — DISHEARTENING  DIFFICULTIES  (1875-77) 174 

VI. — IMPORTANT  EVENTS  (1878-79) 184 

VII. — PROGRESS  IN  EVERY  DIRECTION  (1880-82) 195 

VIII. — BETTER  ADMINISTRATION  (1883-85) 212 

IX. — THE  HOME-CHURCH  LAGS  (1886-87) 234 

X.— THE  HAND  OF  DEATH  (1888-89) 248 

XI. — WOMAN  MISSIONARIES  (1890-91) 265 

XII. — INCREASING  FRUITFULNESS  (1892-93) 281 

XIII. — FROM  A  MISSIONARY'S  DIARY  (1894) 296 

XIV. — THE  JUBILEE  YEAR  (1895) 307 

XV. — DISSENSION  IN  THE  MISSION  (1896-99) 315 

XVI. — RECONSTRUCTION  (1900-02) 330 

XVII. — UNDER  DR.  HARPSTER'S  LEADERSHIP  (1903-05) 342 

XVIII. — MANIFOLD  ACTIVITY  (1906-09) .' 356 

XIX. — RECENT  DEVELOPMENT  (1909-12) 370 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

CHRISTIAN  FREDERICK  HEYER Frontispiece 

THE  RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA 20 

HINDU  SNAKE  CHARMERS 21 

A  PALANKEEN  FOR  BRIDES  AND  BRIDEGROOMS 40 

A'  JlNRIKISHA 40 

A  BULLOCK  BANDY 41 

AN  ELEPHANT  CART 41 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  A  TELUGU  LETTER 60 

A  HINDU  TEMPLE  IN  RAJAHMUNDRY 60 

A  TELUGU  BARBER  AT  WORK 61 

TELUGU  WOMAN  GRINDING  CURRY 61 

CHARLES  WILLIAM  GROENNING 84 

A  TELUGU  BRAHMIN 85 

COCOANUT  PALMS  IN  INDIA 102 

A  MANGO  TREE 102 

CUTTING  A  BUNCH  OF  BANANAS 103 

A  BANYAN  TREE 103 

TELUGU  POTTERS  AT  WORK 120 

TELUGU  GOLDSMITHS 120 

TELUGU  BASKET  MAKERS  WORKING  IN  FRONT  OF  THEIR  HUT 121 

TELUGU  CARPENTERS  SAWING  A  LOG  OF  WOOD 121 

MAP  OF  THE  GENERAL  COUNCIL'S  TELUGU  MISSION  FIELD 130 

MAP  OF  THE  GENERAL  SYNOD'S  TELUGU  MISSION  FIELD 131 

PASTOR  NELAPROLU  PAULUS.  ^ 146 

PASTOR  TOTA  JOSEPH 146 

PASTORS  JERIPROLU  WILLIAM,  VENKATARATNAM,  AND  PANTAGANI  PARA- 

DESI 147 

THE  HINDU  GODDESS  KALI 160 

THE  ELEPHANT-HEADED  GOD  GANESHA 161 

"RIVERDALE" — MISSIONARY'S  HOME  AT  RAJAHMUNDRY 174 

"THE  DOVE  OF  PEACE" — HOUSE  BOAT 175 

'THE  AUGUSTANA" — MISSION  HOUSE  BOAT 175 

ST.  PAUL'S  CHURCH,  RAJAHMUNDRY 184 

MISSION  CHAPEL  AT  VELPUR 185 

THE  HINDU  TRIAD  OF  GODS:  BRAHMA,  VISHNU,  SIVA 194 

THE  MONKEY-GOD  HANUMAN 194 

5 


6  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

MAP  OF  RAJAHMUNDRY  IN  1910 195 

DYING  HINDU  HOLDING  A  Cow's  TAIL 204 

A  HIGH  CASTE  TELUCU  WOMAN 205 

HINDU  FAKIR  ON  A  BED  OF  SPIKES 216 

THE  CAR  OF  THE  GOD  OF  KORUKONDA 216 

THE  SACRED  HILL  OF  KORUKONDA 217 

THE  TEMPLE  ON  KORUKONDA  HILL 217 

RELIGIOUS  BATHING  IN  THE  GODAVERY  RIVER — PUSHKARAM 228 

THE  BRIDGE  OVER  THE  GODAVERY  RIVER  AT  RAJAHMUNDRY 228 

LOADING  RADARI  BOATS  WITH  RICE  BAGS 229 

A  CONGREGATION  OF  TELUGU  CHRISTIANS  (MALAS) 229 

MISSIONARIES  SCHMIDT,  BECKER,  POULSEN,  CARLSON,  W.  GROENNING, 

ARTMAN 246 

A  TELUGU  FAMILY 247 

A  CONFERENCE  OF  NATIVE  CHRISTIAN  HELPERS 247 

WOMAN  MISSIONARIES:  SCHADE,  SADTLER,  SWENSON,  WOERNER,  ROHRER, 

NILSSON 264 

"THE  ZENANA  HOME" — FIRST  RESIDENCE  FOR  WOMAN  MISSIONARIES..  265 

A  CANAL  SCENE  IN  GODAVERY  DISTRICT 265 

MISSIONARIES  POHL,  ARPS,  ISAACSON,  KUDER,  HARPSTER,  FICHTHORN  . .  280 
Miss  KATE  L.  SADTLER  AND  PUPILS  OF  HER  HINDU  GIRLS'  SCHOOL  . . .  281 
PUPILS  AND  TEACHERS  OF  Miss  E.  L.  WEISKOTTEN'S  HINDU  GIRLS' 

SCHOOLS 281 

MISSIONARIES  ON  TOUR  LIVING  IN  A  TENT 296 

THE  GORGE  OF  THE  GODAVERY  RIVER 296 

AFTER  AN  EXAMINATION  OF  VILLAGE  SCHOOL  CHILDREN 297 

A  TELUGU  VILLAGE 297 

EMMANUEL  CHAPEL  AT  DOWLAISHWARAM 308 

MISSIONARY'S  HOUSE  AT  DOWLAISHWARAM 308 

AUGUSTANA  CHURCH  AT  SAMULKOT 309 

INTERIOR  OF  AUGUSTANA  CHURCH,  SAMULKOT 309 

GIRLS'  CENTRAL  SCHOOL,  RAJAHMUNDRY — MAIN  BUILDING 322 

GIRLS'  CENTRAL  SCHOOL,  RAJAHMUNDRY — DORMITORIES 322 

GROUP  OF  MISSIONARIES 323 

AT  THE  WELL  IN  THE  GIRLS'  CENTRAL  SCHOOL  COMPOUND 323 

MISSIONARIES  E.  NEUDOERFFER,  A.  F.  A.  NEUDOERFFER,  WACKERNAGLE, 

WOLTERS,  LARSON,  ECKARDT 330 

WOMAN  MISSIONARIES:  WEISKOTTEN,  MRS.  J.  H.  HARPSTER,  MRS.  E.  NEU- 
DOERFFER, MRS.  O.  V.  WERNER,  TATGE,  BORTHWTCK 331 

THE  HINDU  GIRLS'  SCHOOL  AT  ARYAPURAM,  RAJAHMUNDRY 344 

Miss  CHARLOTTE  SWENSON  TEACHING  A  CLASS  OF  BIBLE  WOMEN 345 

CATECHIST  A.  ANANDAPPAN,  WIFE  AND  CHILDREN 356 

TEACHERS  AND  PUPILS,  BOYS'  CENTRAL  SCHOOL,  RAJAHMUNDRY,  1912. .  357 

MISSIONARIES  SCHAEFER,  WERNER,  HOLMER,  SIPES 360 

COMMISSIONERS  C.  T.  BENZE  AND  C.  W.  Foss 360 


ILLUSTRATIONS  7 

PAGE 

A  GROUP  OF  LACE  MAKERS 361 

DISPENSARY  BUILDING  AT  RAJAHMUNDRY 361 

BOYS'  CENTRAL  SCHOOL  DORMITORIES,  LUTHERGIRI,  RAJAHMUNDRY.  ...  366 

BOYS'  HIGH  SCHOOL,  PEDDAPUR 366 

WOMEN  OF  THE  GENERAL  COUNCIL  WHO  HAVE  BEEN  PROMINENT  IN 

MISSIONS 367 

BIRD'S  EYE  VIEW  OF  THE  RAJAHMUNDRY  HOSPITAL  FOR  WOMEN  AND 

CHILDREN 376 

HOSPITAL  MAIN  BUILDING 376 

"MEDICAL  HOME" — RESIDENCE  OF  MEDICAL  MISSIONARIES 377 

PATIENTS  FROM  THE  CHILDREN'S  WARDS  AND  THEIR  AYAHS 377 

THE  BOARD'S  SEAL  OF  INCORPORATION 382 

THE  CHURCH  COUNCIL  OF  ST.  PAUL'S  CHURCH,  RAJAHMUNDRY,  IN  1910  382 

PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 383 

EXECUTIVE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 388 

ALL-INDIA  LUTHERAN  CONFERENCE  OF  MISSIONARIES,  1912 389 


PART  I 


CHRISTIAN    FREDERICK   HEYER 

AND  THE 

AMERICAN   EVANGELICAL   LUTHERAN  MISSIONS 

IN  INDIA 


THE    BEGINNING    OF    FOREIGN   MISSION   WORK 

IN  THE 

EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA 


AMERICAN  EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN  MISSIONS 

IN  INDIA 

CHAPTER  I 

THE    FIRST    FOREIGN    MISSION    EFFORT    IN    THE    EVANGELICAL 
LUTHERAN  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA 

IN  the  earlier  history  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church 
in  America  two  dates,  a  century  apart,  are  especially  note- 
worthy. The  one,  1742,  designates  the  year  of  the  landing 
of  the  patriarch  of  our  American  Church,  Henry  Melchior 
Muhlenberg,  on  the  shore  of  this  western  hemisphere;  the 
other,  1842,  marks  the  beginning  of  our  Church's  foreign 
mission  in  India  by  the  first  American  Lutheran  foreign  mis- 
sionary, John  Christian  Frederick  Heyer.  In  the  wonderful 
providence  of  God  the  original  desire  of  Muhlenberg  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  the  heathen  hi  India  was  eventually  fulfilled, 
one  hundred  years  afterward,  through  the  instrumentality  of 
the  Church  which  he  organized  hi  the  United  States;  and  the 
field  which  Heyer  selected  and  which  has  been  cultivated  ever 
since  by  our  Church,  lies  not  many  hundred  miles  northeast 
of  the  place  where  Muhlenberg  would  have  landed  and  labored, 
had  he  followed,  as  he  first  intended,  in  the  wake  of  Ziegen- 
balg  and  Pluetschau. 

During  the  century  from  Muhlenberg  to  Heyer  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  the  United  States  was  called  upon  to  devote  herself 
primarily  to  the  task  of  gathering  into  organized  congrega- 
tions those  of  her  communion  who  immigrated  by  hundreds 
of  thousands  into  the  United  States.  The  work  of  her 
self-preservation  rather  than  that  of  her  extension  to  other 
lands  demanded  the  first  attention  and  the  full  vigor  of  our 
Church  during  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  first  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  Even  after  she  began  to  do  foreign 


12       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

mission  work,  so  much  of  her  energy  was  needed  for  the 
work  of  home  missions  that,  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  twen- 
tieth century,  she  was  obliged  to  expend  the  greater  part 
of  her  strength  and  resources  in  the  absorbing  effort  of  caring 
for  those  of  her  own  household  of  faith,  first  of  all  in  the 
mother-tongue  of  the  immigrants  as  they  arrived,  and  then, 
after  the  second  or  third  generation,  in  the  English  language. 
Now  that  immigration  from  Lutheran  countries  is  on  the  wane 
and  the  home  mission  facilities  of  our  Church  are  more 
numerous  and  efficient,  a  notable  increase  of  foreign  mission 
spirit  and  activity  is  discernible. 

During  the  early  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century  the 
activities  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  North  America  were, 
for  the  greater  part,  confined  to  two  bodies,  namely,  the 
Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  General  Synod.  The 
latter  was  called  into  existence  mainly  through  the  effort 
of  the  Ministerium  at  Frederick,  Maryland,  in  1821.  The 
Ministerium,  however,  withdrew  from  the  General  Synod 
shortly  after  its  organization.  These  two  bodies,  almost  equal 
in  numerical  strength,  continued  to  exist  side  by  side  and  to 
engage  in  similar  or  nearly  similar  lines  of  work,  until  they 
reunited  in  1853.  1°  I^^6  they  again  separated.  During  the 
first  period  of  their  separate  existence  (1823-53)  their  relations 
seem  to  have  been  amicable.  To  this  period  we  trace  the 
beginning  of  our  American  Lutheran  Mission  in  India,  in 
which  both  bodies,  under  a  peculiar  form  of  agreement,  co- 
operated for  a  number  of  years. 

Year  by  year  as  Lutheran  immigration  continued  and  the 
territory  of  the  Church's  operations  extended  westward  in 
line  with  the  territorial  expansion  of  the  Union,  the  increas- 
ing responsibility  of  the  organized  bodies  in  the  East  to  sup- 
ply, as  best  they  could,  the  destitute  portions  of  the  Church 
on  the  western  frontiers  with,  at  least,  the  occasional  admin- 
istration of  the  means  of  grace,  forcibly  impressed  itself  upon 
these  bodies  and  developed  within  them  not  only  a  growing 
home  mission  activity  but  also  a  sincere  purpose  to  carry 
the  Gospel  to  the  heathen. 

To  the  General  Synod  belongs  the  credit  of  having  made 


FIRST   FOREIGN    MISSION    EFFORT    IN    LUTHERAN    CHURCH      13 

the  first  united  effort  in  our  Lutheran  Church  in  behalf  of 
foreign  mission  work. 

Previous  to  the  year  1833,  individuals  and  congregations 
in  various  Lutheran  Synods  sent  occasional  contributions  to 
the  "American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions." Indeed,  the  first  organized  effort  of  the  General 
Synod  was  intended  to  be  in  co-operation  with  that  Board; 
but  hi  1833,  at  the  meeting  of  the  General  Synod  in  Balti- 
more, Maryland,  a  special  committee  was  appointed,  charged 
with  the  duty  of  formulating  a  plan  for  more  energetic 
and  extensive  mission  activity.  Meeting  in  York,  Pa.,  in 
1835,  this  committee  urged  the  necessity,  importance  and 
value  of  both  home  and  foreign  mission  work  and  concluded 
with  a  strong  appeal  for  united  endeavor  in  behalf  of  for- 
eign missions.  Its  report  led  to  the  adoptioft  of  resolutions 
looking  to  the  organization  of  a  missionary  society.  The 
first  resolution  recommended  the  holding  of  a  mission- 
ary meeting  at  Mechanicsburg,  Pa.,  in  connection  with  the 
convention  of  the  West  Pennsylvania  Synod,  in  October, 
1835.  The  second  and  third  resolutions,  which  were  intended 
as  inspirational,  referred  to  the  labors  of  Guetzlaff,  a  German 
missionary  in  China.  The  fourth  resolution  recommended 
to  all  Lutheran  Synods  "to  give,  at  their  ensuing  meetings, 
an  expression  of  their  sentiment  and  feeling  respecting  the 
establishment  of  a  foreign  mission  by  the  Evangelical  Luth- 
eran Church  in  the  United  States." 

The  missionary  meeting  was  held,  as  arranged,  in  Mechan- 
icsburg and  resulted  in  the  formation  of  "The  Central  Mis- 
sionary Society."  Its  object,  as  expressed  in  its  constitu- 
tion, was  "to  send  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  to  the  desti- 
tute portions  of  the  Lutheran  Church  hi  the  United  States, 
to  assist,  for  a  season,  such  congregations  as  are  unable  to 
support  the  Gospel,  and  ultimately  to  co-operate  in  sending  it 
to  the  heathen  world."  The  Rev.  C.  F.  Heyer  was  chosen  as 
the  society's  first  missionary.  He  was  called  to  engage  in 
mission  work  for  a  period  of  five  years,  his  compensation  to 
be  five  hundred  dollars  a  year.  He  was  directed  to  devote 
himself  primarily  to  the  work  of  a  home  missionary,  but  also 


14 

to  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  be  sent  out  as  a  foreign  mis- 
sionary when  the  need  arose  and  the  necessary  arrangements 
could  be  made. 

The  organization  of  "The  Central  Missionary  Society" 
induced  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  also  to  form  a  synod- 
ical  missionary  society.  On  Wednesday  evening,  June  i ,  1836, 
the  evening  before  the  annual  convention  of  the  Ministerium, 
at  Easton,  Pa.,  a  number  of  clerical  and  lay  delegates  met  and 
organized  "The  Society  of  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel,"  electing  as  its  first  officers :  the  Rev. 
Wm.  Beates,  president;  the  Rev.  J.  P.  Hecht,  vice-president; 
the  Rev.  C.  Miller,  recording  secretary;  the  Rev.  F.  Ruthrauff, 
corresponding  secretary,  and  Mr.  C.  J.  Hutter,  treasurer.1 

During  the  first  year  of  its  existence  no  effort  was  made 
by  the  society  to  do  foreign  mission  work;  but  at  its  second 
meeting  in  Lancaster,  Pa.,  May,  1837,  the  executive  com- 
mittee was  authorized  and  instructed  to  spend  $150  for  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel  among  the  heathen.  Moreover,  three 
members  of  the  society2  were  appointed  delegates  to  the  con- 
vention of  Lutherans  called  to  meet  at  Hagerstown,  Md.,  in 
connection  with  the  meeting  of  the  General  Synod  during  the 
closing  week  of  May,  1837,  and  to  determine  what  course 
should  be  pursued  in  response  to  appeals  for  financial  aid,  ad- 
dressed to  all  Germans  in  America  by  Guetzlaff  in  China  and 
by  Rhenius  in  India.  The  appeal  of  the  latter,  especially,  had 

1  Twelve  directors  were  elected,  namely,  the  Revs.  J.  C.  Baker,  D.  D., 
C.  R.  Demme,  D.  D.,  J.  Medtart,  G.  W.  Mertz,  E.  Peixotto,  M.  Keller  and  S.  J. 
Brobst,  candidate  J.  Sahm  and  Messrs.  F.  Wra.  Heckel,  Chr.  Strack,  Fr.  Er- 
hard  and  Chr.  Haeger. 

A  committee  consisting  of  the  Revs.  Keller,  Ruthrauff  and  Medtart  and 
Messrs.  Hutter  and  Heckel  formulated  a  constitution,  an  abstract  of  which 
is  here  given:  Article  I.  Name.  Article  II  defines  the  purpose  of  the  society  to 
be  the  employment  of  a  missionary  to  travel  through  the  country  and  organize 
congregations,  and  "as  soon  as  possible  to  send  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen." 
Article  III  fixes  the  time  of  meeting  to  be  in  connection  with  the  annual  con- 
vention of  the  Synod.  Article  IV  determines  the  fees,  namely,  one  dollar  a 
year  for  active  membership,  ten  dollars  for  life-membership  and  twenty-five 
dollars  for  life-directorship.  Article  V  regulates  the  election  of  officers  and  of  a 
board  of  twelve  directors.  Article  VI  creates  an  executive  committee  consisting 
of  the  officers  and  three  others  elected  by  the  board  of  directors.  Article  VII 
specifies  that  the  members  of  the  executive  committee  shall  live  in  as  nearly 
contiguous  localities  as  possible.  Articles  VIII  to  XII  deal  with  matters  of 
government,  auxiliary  societies  and  amendments. 

2  The  Revs.  C.  VV.  Schaeffer,  J.  Medtart  and  Mr.  F.  Wm.  Heckel. 


FIRST   FOREIGN    MISSION   EFFORT   IN    LUTHERAN    CHURCH      15 

created  a  profound  impression  throughout  the  Church.  The 
conviction  was  general  that  Rhenius  should  be  supported  in 
his  independent  mission  work  and  that  his  appeal  had  set  the 
time  for  action  by  the  American  Lutheran  Church  in  behalf 
of  foreign  missions.  It  was  felt  "that  indifference  to  the 
leadings  of  Providence  was  sinful  and  that  God  would  have 
the  Church  engage  in  the  work  of  foreign  missions."  Those 
who  responded  to  the  appeal  of  Rhenius  in  his  effort  to  inter- 
est the  Germans  in  America  in  his  independent  Tinnevelly 
Mission  could  scarcely  have  realized  at  that  time  that  his  ap- 
peal and  their  response  actually  determined,  then  and  there, 
that  India  should  be  the  field  for  the  foreign  mission  work  of 
the  Lutheran  Church  in  America. 

Considerable  enthusiasm  for  foreign  missions  was  manifested 
at  the  Hagerstown  meeting  of  the  General  Synod  and  was 
carried  over  into  the  missionary  meeting,  which  aimed  at  the 
organization  of  all  Germans  in  America,  to  whom  Rhenius 
had  indiscriminately  appealed,  into  one  foreign  missionary 
society.  As  a  consequence  the  new  society,  organized  May 
30,  1837,  was  called  "The  German  Foreign  Missionary 
Society."  Steps  were  taken  to  extend  immediate  aid  to 
Rhenius.  Three  hundred  dollars  were  appropriated  to  be 
sent  at  once;  and  two  semi-annual  payments  of  a  thousand 
dollars  each  were  promised.  Furthermore,  the  Rev.  Charles 
Philip  Krauth,  D.  D.,  was  requested  to  write  and  ask  Rhe- 
nius if  "he  would  be  willing  to  be  employed  as  the  missionary 
of  the  society  to  labor  among  the  Tamils  in  India."  The 
enthusiasm  of  the  Hagerstown  meeting  spread.  "Money 
poured  into  the  treasury  of  the  new  society  and  funds  were 
speedily  forwarded  to  India." 

Although  the  delegates  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Ministerium  took  part  in  the  organization  of 
"The  German  Foreign  Missionary  Society,"  the  former 
society  decided  to  continue  its  separate  existence.  At  its 
third  annual  meeting1  held  June  12,  1838,  in  Philadelphia, 

1  At  this  meeting  besides  nine  auxiliary  congregational  missionary  societies, 
one  "female  missionary  society"  was  reported,  namely,  that  of  St.  Michael's 
Church  in  Germantown,  Pa.,  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Richards,  pastor.  This  was, 
therefore,  the  first  women's  missionary  society  in  the  Pennsylvania  Synod. 


1 6       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

$5<x>1  were  ordered  to  be  sent  to  Rhenius  in  Palamcotta. 
This  sum,  together  with  $250  contributed  by  St.  John's  English 
Church  in  Philadelphia,  was  remitted  in  December,  1838. 
For  a  while  the  foreign  mission  cause  overshadowed  every 
other  interest  and  the  enthusiasm  was  still  at  its  height, 
when  at  the  fourth  annual  meeting  of  the  society  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Ministerium,  held  in  Allentown,  May  29,  1839, 
in  a  letter  addressed  to  Rev.  Fr.  Schmidt,  secretary,  who  had 
succeeded  Rev.  F.  Ruthrauff  in  that  office,  news  was  received 
of  the  death  of  Rhenius  in  Palamcotta,  June  5,  1836,  and  of 
the  return  of  his  colleague  to  the  service  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society.  At  once  the  zeal  of  the  society  began  to 
abate.  The  Executive  Committee2  was  instructed  to  with- 
hold further  support  until  more  definite  knowledge  con- 
cerning affairs  in  Palamcotta  had  been  received.3 

The  confirmation  of  the  news  of  the  death  of  Rhenius 
and  of  the  return  of  his  son-in-law,  Mueller,  and  his  associates, 
to  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  hastened  the  establish- 
ment of  a  separate  American  Lutheran  foreign  mission. 
The  initial  steps  toward  this  end  were  taken  by  the  German 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  in  Chambersburg,  June  4,  1839, 
when  it  was  resolved  "to  send  forth  missionaries  into  the 
field,  either  to  co-operate  with  the  Palamcotta  mission  or  to 
form  an  independent  station,  as  the  Executive  Committee 
might  find  most  expedient." 

The  Executive  Committee  of  The  German  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Society,4  whose  attention  had  been  called  to  the  Rev.  C. 
F.  Heyer,  then  a  home-missionary  of  the  West  Pennsylvania 
Synod  at  work  in  Pittsburg,  as  the  most  suitable  person  to  be 
appointed  as  the  society's  foreign  missionary,  instructed  its 

1  The  receipts  of  the  society  during  the  current  year  were  $775.14^;  the  ex- 
penditures, $368.19^. 

1  At  this  meeting  the  executive  committee  was  constituted  as  follows:  The 
Revs.  Beates,  Baker,  S.  Sprecher,  H.  S.  Miller,  J.  Haesbaert,  G.  A.  Reichert, 
and  Messrs.  E.  Haeger  and  J.  F.  Heinitsch. 

3  The  total  receipts  of  the  society  during  the  year  were  $1287.05;    the 
expenditures,  $962.72. 

4  The  members  of  the  committee  were:    The  Rev.  Prof.  S.  S.  Schmucker, 
D.  D.,  the  Rev.  Prof.  H.  L.  Baugher,  the  Rev.  J.  N.  Hoffmann,  Dr.  D.  Gil- 
bert, Mr.  Isaac  Baugher,  treasurer,  and  the  Rev.  Prof.  Charles  Philip  Krauth 
D.  D.,  corresponding  secretary. 


FIRST    FOREIGN    MISSION    EFFORT    IN    LUTHERAN    CHURCH      17 

corresponding  secretary,  the  Rev.  Prof.  Charles  Philip  Krauth, 
D.  D.,  some  time  during  the  spring  of  1840,  to  write  to  Heyer 
asking  him  if  he  would  consider  a  call  to  become  a  foreign 
missionary  and  requesting  his  opinion  "as  to  the  place  where 
a  mission  might  advantageously  be  commenced,  whether  in 
the  far  West  among  the  aborigines  of  America  or  in  the  far 
East  among  the  Hindus."  Heyer  replied  as  follows :  "I  have 
no  particular  choice  but  would  be  willing  to  go  wheresoever 
the  Lord  may  direct,  even  to  New  Zealand,  where  missionaries 
have  lately  been  slain  and  devoured  by  the  savages.  How- 
ever, it  appears  to  me  that  the  Coromandel  coast,  perhaps  in 
the  Tinnevelly  district,  where  Mr.  Mueller,  Rhenius'  son-in- 
law,  is  now  standing  alone,  would  be  the  most  suitable  place 
to  commence.  If  we  undertake  to  establish  a  mission  among 
our  Indians,  we  should,  probably,  have  to  go  across  the 
Rocky  Mountains  to  a  place  perhaps  as  difficult  of  access  as 
the  peninsula  of  Hindustan.  Moreover,  our  Indians  are  of  a 
roving  disposition,  and  hence  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  hold  of 
them  or  make  an  impression  on  them.  There  exists,  also,  a 
certain  kind  of  prejudice  among  many  of  our  people  against 
the  Indians,  which  would  render  them  unwilling  to  do  as 
much  for  a  mission  among  the  Indians  in  America  as  for  an 
undertaking  of  this  kind  among  the  Hindus.  But  I  am  willing 
to  abide  by  the  decision  of  the  Executive  Committee." 

After  some  further  correspondence  the  committee  called 
Heyer  in  May,  1840.  He  accepted  the  call.  Then  the  Ameri- 
can Board  of  Commissioners  was  consulted  with  regard  to 
a  suitable  field  in  India,  and  on  their  recommendation  the 
Telugu  country  was  selected.  Meanwhile  the  time  had  ar- 
rived for  the  biennial  meeting  of  the  General  Synod  and, 
in  connection  therewith,  of  The  German  Foreign  Missionary 
Society.  The  society  met  on  Tuesday,  May  n,  1841,  in 
Baltimore,  Md.  Having  realized  by  this  time  that  the  co- 
operation of  all  Germans  in  America  was  impracticable,  an 
amendment  to  the  constitution  was  proposed  at  this  meet- 
ing changing  the  society's  name  to  that  of  "The  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in 
the  United  States."  After  the  report  of  the  Executive  Com- 


1 8       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

mittee  had  been  read,  it  was  unanimously  resolved  to  ap- 
prove of  the  steps  taken  in  the  appointment  of  the  Rev.  C.  F. 
Heyer  as  a  foreign  missionary,  to  communicate  this  appoint- 
ment to  the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  synods  and  to  request 
their  co-operation.  A  committee1  appointed  to  recommend 
a  plan  of  co-operation  with  the  American  Board  in  the  case 
of  the  proposed  Telugu  mission,  submitted  the  following 
report : 

"The  Evangelical  Lutheran  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  desirous  of  avail" 
ing  themselves  of  the  facilities  afforded  by  the  American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  Foreign  Missions  to  the  churches  that  have  united  with  it  in  the  work 
of  foreign  missions  and  also  deeming  it  important  that  the  efforts  of  the  friends 
of  this  cause  in  this  country  should  be  more  fully  concentrated,  propose  to  form 
a  connection  with  said  board  upon  the  following  general  principles:  (i)  The 
connection  of  our  missionaries  with  the  American  Board  shall  in  no  degree 
affect  their  ecclesiastical  relations  and  responsibilities.  (2)  When  desired  by 
our  society,  the  American  Board  is  to  organize  the  missionaries  furnished  by 
us  into  a  mission  by  themselves  to  be  under  their  direction;  and  should  the  con- 
nection of  the  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Lutheran  Church  with  the  American 
Board  be  at  any  time  dissolved,  the  direction  of  this  mission  shall  then,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  be  transferred  to  the  Lutheran  Board.  (3)  The  Lutheran 
Board  shall  have  the  nomination  of  their  missionaries,  but  the  American 
Board  may  confirm  the  nomination.  (4)  The  Lutheran  Board  shall  have 
the  management  of  all  the  agencies  for  collecting  funds,  etc.,  within  the  bounds 
of  the  denomination,  and  also  the  charge  of  fostering  a  missionary  spirit  in 
the  churches  and  in  their  candidates  for  the  ministry.  (5)  All  the  pecuniary 
responsibilities  of  the  missionaries  excepting  when  acting  as  agents  under  the 
direction  of  the  Lutheran  Board,  shall  be  wholly  under  the  American  Board. 
(6)  The  receipts  of  the  Lutheran  Board  after  defraying  the  expenses  of  agencies 
etc.,  shall  be  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  American  Board.  Whenever  the 
amount  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  American  Board  shall  exceed  the  sum 
required  for  the  support  of  the  missionaries  furnished  by  the  Lutheran  Board, 
for  the  current  year,  the  American  Board  may  apply  the  surplus  to  the  support 
of  other  missionaries  in  their  employment.  And  should  the  funds  furnished  by 
the  Lutheran  Board  at  any  time  be  inadequate  to  the  support  of  the  missionaries 
furnished  by  said  Board,  it  is  expected  that  the  American  Board  will  afford 
us  aid,  if  they  have  a  surplus  of  funds.  (7)  When  missionaries  are  about  to 
embark  a  missionary  meeting  shall,  if  possible,  be  held  in  some  Lutheran 
Church,  at  which  the  instructions  shall  be  given  by  the  American  Board  and 
the  charge  be  delivered  by  the  Lutheran  Board;  and  the  missionaries,  when  in 
the  field,  shall  also  maintain  a  regular  correspondence  with  the  Lutheran  Board." 

1  The  committee  consisted  of  the  Revs.  Dr.  G.  A.  Lintner,  Dr.  S.  S.  Schmuck- 
er,  Dr.  C.  P.  Krauth,  Henry  N.  Pohlman  and  J.  Berger. 


FIRST   FOREIGN   MISSION    EFFORT    IN    LUTHERAN    CHURCH      19 

Upon  the  adoption  of  this  arrangement  with  the  Ameri- 
can Board,  which  was  very  distasteful  to  Heyer,  he  resigned 
his  appointment  by  the  General  Synod's  society.  That  there 
were  at  least  some  who  sided  with  Heyer  and  opposed  affilia- 
tion with  the  American  Board,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
an  amendment  to  the  constitution  was  at  once  proposed, 
striking  out  Article  12,  which  bound  the  General  Synod's 
society  to  co-operation  with  that  Board. 

About  a  month  elapsed  between  the  meetings  of  the  General 
Synod  and  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  in  1841.  It  ap- 
pears that  the  latter's  missionary  society  had  continued  to 
send  support  to  Mueller  in  Tinnevelly,1  but  at  this  meeting, 
held  June  5, 1841,  in  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  it  decided  that  "whereas 
said  society  (C.  M.  S.)  had  sufficient  means  to  maintain  the 
mission  under  Brother  Mueller,  this  society  will  give  it  no 
more  support  but  will  look  elsewhere  in  order  to  propagate 
the  Gospel  among  the  heathen." 

At  this  crucial  moment  on  the  afternoon  of  Saturday, 
June  5th,  a  letter  written  by  Heyer  two  days  previously  was 
read  to  the  society  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Demme,  its  correspond- 
ing secretary.  The  part  which  this  important  letter  played 
in  the  history  of  our  foreign  mission  work  justifies  its  quota- 
tion in  full: 

Baltimore,  June  3,  1841. 
Dear  Brethren: 

I  prefer  to  go  as  Missionary  under  the  supervision  of 
a  Lutheran  Missionary  Society,  rather  than  to  be  beholden 
to  other  Christian  denominations.  This  is  the  reason  which 
constrains  me  to  apply  to  your  society.  If  the  brethren  feel 
inclined  to  send  me  as  their  agent  to  the  heathen,  the  follow- 
ing conditions  should  be  taken  into  consideration:  (i) 
Your  society  will  decide  about  the  place  or  region  of  country 
where  the  mission  is  to  be  commenced.  (2)  The  travel- 
ling expenses  to  the  place  of  destination  are  to  be  paid  out  of 
the  funds  at  present  in  the  hands  of  your  treasurer.  (3) 

1  During  the  synodical  year  ending  June  i,  1842,  $575,  taken  from  the 
mission  treasury,  and  $275.25,  contributed,  by  St.  John's  English  Church 
in  Philadelphia  and  by  the  Bible  Society  of  Lebanon  County,  had  been  sent  to 
Mueller. 


20       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

The  surplus  in  the  treasury  is  to  be  paid  to  the  mission  in 
three  equal  instalments,  if  my  life  be  spared  that  long.  (4) 
I  will  invest  1000  dollars  of  my  own  money;  the  interest  of 
this  investment  shall  be  applied  to  the  support  of  the  mis- 
sion as  long  as  I  remain  in  connection  with  the  same.  (5) 
To  meet  the  other  necessary  expenses  of  the  mission  I  rely 
on  ministers  and  other  friends  of  our  undertaking,  who  will 
be  ready  to  assist  in  the  accomplishment  of  our  object.  Pray- 
ing the  Lord  to  guide  and  bless  you  in  your  deliberations,  I 
remain, 

Respectfully  yours, 

C.  F.  HEYER. 

Dilatoriness  and  timidity,  which  so  often  have  harmed 
the  interests  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium,  characterized 
the  report  of  the  special  committee  to  whom  Meyer's  letter 
was  referred.1  The  committee  expressed  its  "pleasure  in 
perceiving  how  much  Brother  Heyer  is  devoted  to  the  cause 
of  Christ  and  His  Church,  desiring  as  he  does,  to  be  sent  as 
a  missionary  to  the  heathen  and  having  declared  that  it  is  his 
wish  to  be  sent  out  by  none  other  than  the  Lutheran  Church." 
The  committee,  however,  regretted  that  "the  missionary 
society  had  not  sufficient  means  on  hand  to  form  and  main- 
tain a  heathen  mission  and  that  it  could  not  rely  on  the  co- 
operation of  the  Lutheran  brethren  in  the  General  Synod, 
who  had  united  their  efforts  with  the  American  Board."  It 
therefore  concluded  that  "the  Pennsylvania  Missionary  So- 
ciety could  not  venture  on  such  an  enterprise  as  proposed  by 
Rev.  C.  F.  Heyer,  even  though  it  might  entertain  the  hope  that 
the  Lutheran  Church  could  and  would  do  much  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  poor  heathen,  and  was  convinced  that  Heyer 
would  be  a  suitable  person  to  send  as  a  foreign  missionary  to 
India." 

There  were  present  at  that  meeting,  however,  men  who 
were  not  of  such  little  faith.  Earnestly  and  convincingly 
they  pleaded  for  aggressive  measures  and  immediate  action. 

1  The  committee  consisted  of  the  Revs.  S.  Sprecher,  C.  Miller  and  H.  S. 
Miller.  The  two  latter  signed  the  report. 


HINDUISM  MOHAMMEDANISM      CHPISTIANITY 

207,700,000        60,000,000  ^000,000 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA 


HINDU   SNAKE   CHARMKRS 


FIRST    FOREIGN    MISSION    EFFORT    IN    LUTHERAN    CHURCH      21 

Their  counsel  prevailed.  The  resolutions  offered  by  the 
Rev.  C.  R.  Demme,  D.  D.,  seconded  by  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Baker, 
D.  D.,  and  passed  unanimously,  form  the  actual  starting 
point  of  our  Church's  foreign  mission  in  India.  They  were 
adopted  on  June  9,  1841,  and  read  as  follows: 

"Resolved,  That  in  reliance  on  divine  Providence  we 
commence  a  heathen  mission. 

"Resolved,  That  we  receive  Brother  Heyer  as  missionary 
into  our  service;  his  offer,  however,  to  invest  one  thousand 
dollars  of  his  own  property,  the  interest  of  which  is  to  aid 
in  the  support  of  the  Mission  so  long  as  he  is  connected  with  it, 
be  not  accepted. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  solicited 
immediately  to  enter  into  correspondence  with  Brother 
Heyer  in  order  to  carry  the  above  resolutions  into  effect. 

"Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee Hindustan,  as  a  mission  field  for  their  consideration. 

"Resolved,  That  the  treasurer,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baker,  be 
requested  to  address  a  circular  to  the  different  missionary 
societies  of  our  Church,  informing  them  of  the  above  resolu- 
tions and  inviting  them  to  co-operate  with  us." 

Thus  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  became  the  pioneer 
and  leader  in  the  work  of  foreign  missions,  as  it  did,  at  some 
time  or  another,  in  almost  every  other  department  of  church 
work. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  FIRST  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY,  THE  REV.  C.  F.  HEYER,  M.  D. 

THE  life  of  the  Rev.  C.  F.  Heyer,  M.  D.,  though  not  that 
of  a  great  man  as  the  world  estimates  greatness,  reminds  us 
that  we,  also,  as  servants  of  God,  may  make  our  lives  sublime 
by  the  reception  and  reflection  of  the  light  of  truth  and 
grace,  which  is  perfectly  manifested  in  Jesus  Christ. 

By  the  grace  of  God  Dr.  Heyer  was  a  cosmopolitan,  a 
fine  type  of  the  Christian  pilgrim  and  stranger  who,  seeking 
to  reach  the  city  which  is  to  come,  labors,  while  he  journeys 
heavenward,  for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom,  power  and 
glory  of  God  on  earth.  In  a  review  of  his  life  and  career 
one  is  led  over  land  and  sea,  from  continent  to  continent, 
finding  traces  of  his  footsteps  especially  in  Germany,  the 
land  of  his  birth,  in  the  United  States,  the  land  of  his  adop- 
tion, and  in  India,  the  land  of  his  most  memorable  work. 

Heyer's  career  teaches  us  in  unmistakable  language  that 
human  life  in  the  fear  of  God  and  in  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  neither  a  dream  of  worldly  delight  nor  a  nightmare  of  hope- 
less despair,  but  a  real  and  earnest  existence,  lacking  neither 
innocent  romance  nor  beneficent  tribulation  in  the  steady 
pursuit  of  the  divinely  appointed  calling,  the  dignity,  duties 
and  destiny  of  which  are  determined  and  developed  by  faith- 
ful service  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  divine  Redeemer  and  Lord  of 
all  men  and  of  all  things. 

Heyer  was  a  conspicuous  figure  in  our  Lutheran  Church 
in  America  two  generations  and  more  ago.  Esteemed  by  his 
cotemporaries  for  the  vigor  of  his  faith  and  the  value  of  his 
service,  the  kindly  dignity  of  his  manhood  won  for  him  the 
unique  title  of  Father  Heyer.  He  has  been  described  as  "a 
man  of  short  stature,  untiring  energy,  cheerful  disposition, 
unflinching  courage  and  self-denying  spirit."  Eager  and 
zealous  to  the  very  last  days  of  his  ripe  old  age  to  propagate 


FIRST    FOREIGN    MISSIONARY,    REV.    C.    F.    HEYER,  M.  D.       23 

the  Gospel,  both  at  home  and  in  the  foreign  field,  the  Church 
instinctively  turned  to  him  whenever  it  contemplated  a  new 
mission  enterprise.  His  success,  both  as  a  home  and  as 
a  foreign  missionary,  entitles  him  to  the  first  place  in  the 
list  of  the  great  missionaries  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in 
America;  and  his  name  will  ever  be  recalled  as  an  abiding 
inspiration  for  mission  effort  in  every  direction. 

John  Christian  Frederick  Heyer1  was  born  in  Helmstedt, 
duchy  of  Brunswick,  Germany,  July  10,  1793.  Europe  was 
then  in  a  state  of  turmoil  caused  by  the  rise  and  spread  of 
revolutionary  ideas  and  movements,  which  had  made  the 
United  States  free  and  independent  of  England  and  were 
rapidly  demolishing  the  established  institutions  of  France. 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  in  the  near  background  of  current 
events  and  was  already  beginning  to  shape  the  course  of  his- 
tory. Heyer  was  eleven  and  a  half  years  old  when  Napoleon 
was  crowned  emperor  of  France. 

The  French  Revolution  was  accompanied  by  a  storm  of 
religious  error,  which  developed  into  the  tornado  of  Ration- 
alism, swept  over  France,  Germany,  England  and  America, 
and  left  in  its  wake  broken  faith  and  buried  piety.  As  a 
student  at  the  University  of  Goettingen,  Heyer  faced  this 
storm  and  remained  in  the  faith  of  the  fathers. 

Of  greater  significance  as  a  world-movement  than  either 
the  French  Revolution  or  Rationalism  was  the  revival  of  the 
spirit  and  work  of  Christian  missions  to  heathen  lands.  It 
is  more  than  a  mere  coincidence  that  the  year  of  Heyer's 
birth  was  the  year  in  which  William  Carey  landed  on  the 
soil  of  India.  Forty-nine  years  later  Heyer  established 
the  Guntur  India  Mission  for  the  Ministerium  of  Penn- 
sylvania. 

John  Christian  Frederick  was  the  third  child  and  second 
son  of  John  Henry  Gottlieb  and  Sophie  Johanna  Wagener- 
Heyer.  His  father  was  a  burgher  and  master-furrier  in 
Helmstedt.  His  parents  were  pious  Christians  and  brought 
him  up,  as  he  afterward  testified,  in  the  nurture  and  admoni- 

1  He  almost  invariably  signed  his  letters  and  articles  C.  F.  Heyer.  The 
baptismal  record  in  Helmstedt  gives  his  name  as  Johann  Christian  Friedrich. 


24       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

tion  of  the  Lord.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  precocious  child, 
for  he  began  to  attend  the  village  school  at  the  early  age  of 
three  years,  and  when  he  was  thirteen  years  old  a  company  of 
French  soldiers,  quartered  in  Helmstedt,  employed  him  as  an 
interpreter.  Fearing,  perhaps,  that  young  as  he  was,  he  might 
be  drafted  into  the  French  army,  his  parents  decided  to  send 
him  to  an  uncle  living  in  Philadelphia.  After  he  had  been 
confirmed  in  St.  Stephen's  Church,  Helmstedt,  in  1807,  his 
father  took  him  in  August,  that  year,  to  Hamburg,  but  find- 
ing that  port  blockaded  by  French  war  ships,  proceeded  to 
Friedricksstadt,  Denmark,  where  the  father  entrusted  his  son 
to  the  care  of  Captain  Williams,  master  of  the  American  ves- 
sel "Pittsburg,"  bound  for  Philadephia.  The  voyage  across 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  lasted  eight  weeks,  and  the  passage  money, 
amounting  to  $140,  was  paid  by  the  Philadelphia  uncle.  For 
a  while  the  fourteen-year-old  immigrant  attended  Pastor 
Passey's  private  school,  and  then  he  worked  in  his  uncle's  fac- 
tory, learning  the  trade  of  a  furrier.  Despite  the  religious  in- 
difference of  his  uncle  and  remembering  the  precepts  of  his 
parents  and  pastor  in  Helmstedt,  Heyer  regularly  attended 
Zion's  German  Lutheran  Church  at  Fourth  and  Cherry 
streets,  of  which  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Ch.  Helmuth,  D.  D.,  was 
then  the  senior  pastor.  He  became  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday 
school  and  joined  the  choir  and  the  Mosheim  Society,  a  lit- 
erary, social  and  religious  association  of  young  men  in  the 
congregation.  The  junior  pastor  of  the  congregation,  the 
Rev.  John  C.  Baker,  D.  D.,  awakened  in  him  the  desire  to 
enter  the  holy  ministry,  and  in  1809,  being  in  his  seventeenth 
year,  he  joined  the  little  circle  of  students  who  gathered 
around  Drs.  Helmuth  and  F.  D.  Schaeffer  for  theological  in- 
struction. For  about  five  years  he  studied  under  their  direc- 
tion. 

He  preached  his  first  sermon  in  the  Almshouse  in  Phila- 
delphia in  1813,  and  on  Trinity  Sunday  of  the  following  year 
was  permitted  to  deliver  his  first  sermon  in  Zion's  Church, 
at  the  afternoon  service.  His  text  was  Matthew  6:6.  Con- 
cerning this  maiden  effort  he  wrote  long  afterward,  "In  this 
case,  also,  the  word  was  confirmed,  'The  Lord  is  mighty  in  the 


FIRST    FOREIGN    MISSIONARY,    REV.    C.    F.    HEYER,  M.  D.       25 

weak.'  The  sermon  made  a  good  impression.  After  more 
than  fifty  years  I,  to-day,  still  thank  God  for  it."  From  Sep- 
tember 15,  1813,  to  May  8,  1815,  he  taught  the  parochial 
school  which  Zion's  Church  conducted  in  Southwark,  Phila- 
delphia, occasionally  preaching  on  Sunday  evenings  in  the 
schoolhouse. 

In  March,  1815,  Heyer  returned  to  Germany  for  the 
double  purpose  of  seeing  his  parents  again  and  of  completing 
his  theological  studies  at  Halle.  Three  weeks  after  having 
lost  sight  of  the  American  shord,  the  "Washington"  on  which 
he  was  a  passenger,  was  intercepted  by  a  British  man-of-war 
in  search  of  Napoleon  who  had  escaped  from  the  island  of 
Elba.  Several  days  thereafter  another  ship  hailed  them  with 
the  news  that  Napoleon  had  returned  to  France,  driven  the 
king  from  Paris,  and  gathered  an  army  to  regain  his  lost  pres- 
tige and  power.  Hamburg  was  in  a  state  of  intense  excite- 
ment over  the  renewal  of  war;  and  Heyer,  remaining  on  ship- 
board, wrote  and  told  his  parents  that  he  would  return  to 
America  on  the  same  ship,  because  he  feared  that,  if  he  pro- 
ceeded into  the  interior  of  Germany,  he  would  be  forced  into 
the  army.  Carl,  his  elder  brother,  hastened  to  Hamburg  and 
persuaded  him  to  accompany  him  to  Helmstedt,  overcoming 
his  fear  by  offering  to  become  his  substitute  in  case  he  were 
drafted.  In  the  old  home  a  joyful  reunion  of  the  family  was 
held,  and  the  young  theological  student  from  America  was 
honored  with  an  invitation  to  preach  in  the  church  in  which 
he  had  been  baptized  and  confirmed.  Almost  two  thousand 
townspeople  gathered  to  hear  his  sermon. 

Instead  of  going  to  the  University  at  Halle,  which  was 
temporarily  closed,  because  the  students  had  left  it  to  form  a 
volunteer  company  under  Marshal- General  Bluecher,  Heyer 
accompanied  by  his  younger  brother,  Heinrich,1  went  to  Gqet- 
tingen,  where  he  was  matriculated  in  1815.  The  prevailing 
rationalism  of  the  university  only  served  to  strengthen  him 
in  his  faith;  and  in  Pastor  Thilo  who  served  a  congregation 

1  This  brother,  although  a  confessed  rationalist  at  first,  afterward  became 
an  orthodox  Lutheran  pastor  and  served  a  congregation  in  Gross-Poserin, 
Grand  Duchy  of  Mecklenburg,  remaining  in  this  pastorate  over  forty  years. 


26       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

near  Goettingen,  he  found  a  kindred  spirit  and  a  good 
friend. 

In  1815,  while  he  was  spending  a  fall  vacation  of  several 
weeks  at  home,  his  "good  and  pious"  mother  died  at  the  age 
of  fifty-seven  years.  The  next  year  he  returned  to  America 
and  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium 
at  York,  Pa.,  in  1817.  The  synod  assigned  him  work  in 
its  most  northwestern  parish,  in  Crawford  and  Erie  counties, 
Pa.,  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Colson.  He 
was  to  serve  for  three  months  and  receive  a  salary  of  $100, 
the  synod  promising  to  supplement  the  contributions  of  the 
parishioners  if  they  failed  to  reach  that  amount.  On  his  way 
to  Meadville,  where  he  was  to  reside,  Heyer  stopped  in  Lehigh 
County  to  preach  trial  sermons  in  the  congregations  of  the  par- 
ish just  vacated  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Heine.  Two  of  the  congrega- 
tions voted  for  him  and  two  for  the  other  candidate,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Trumbauer,  whereupon  both  withdrew  as  candidates. 
In  the  Macungie  congregation  he  was  defeated,  because  the 
people  objected  to  a  preacher  who  had  studied  abroad,  wore 
long  hair  parted  in  the  middle  after  the  manner  of  German 
university  students  and,  as  they  believed,  forgot  his  text  until 
he  had  reached  almost  the  middle  of  his  sermon,  because  he 
announced  and  recited  it  only  after  a  lengthy  introduction. 
"What  trifling  circumstances  may  give  one's  life  a  different 
course!"  was  Heyer's  comment  on  this  incident. 

Continuing  his  journey  on  horseback  through  Orwigs- 
burg  and  Sunbury,  Heyer  reached  an  outpost  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  Center  County,  where  Pastor  Illgen  distributed  to 
his  widely  scattered  flock  both  spiritual  sustenance  and  drugs, 
gotten  from  Halle,  Germany.  In  Venango  County,  while 
stopping  over  night  with  an  English  family  in  whose  home 
family  prayer  was  customary,  the  visiting  minister  was  asked 
to  offer  the  evening  prayer.  Familiar  as  he  was  with  the 
English  language  he  had  never  yet  attempted  a  public 
prayer  in  that  language.  His  effort  to  translate  the  devotional 
expressions  of  his  habitual  German  prayers  was  a  failure. 
Several  months  later,  however,  he  preached  his  first  English 
sermon  at  French  Creek. 


FIRST    FOREIGN    MISSIONARY,    REV.    C.    F.    HEYER,  M.  D.       27 

His  parish  consisted  of  small  congregations  in  Meadville, 
where  services  were  held  in  the  court  house;  at  French  Creek 
where  a  small,  frame  chapel  had  been  built ;  in  Erie  County 
where  a  country  schoolhouse  was  used  for  church  purposes; 
and  at  Connaught  Lake,  where  services  were  conducted  in 
the  largest  house  in  the  settlement. 

Before  the  three  months  of  his  engagement  had  expired 
he  was  elected  by  the  congregations  as  their  regular  pastor. 
He  remained  to  serve  them  for  nearly  a  year.  During  that 
time  he  instructed  and  confirmed  thirty-five  persons,  baptized 
fifty-three  children,  built  a  neat  frame  chapel  and  bought  a 
parsonage  with  forty  acres  of  land  in  Meadville.  When  he 
left  Meadville  in  the  summer  of  1818,  riding  200  miles  on 
horseback  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Ministerium  in  Harris- 
burg,  both  he  and  his  parish  expected  his  return;  but  the 
synod  decided  that,  because  he  had  shown  his  ability  to 
preach  in  both  German  and  English — a  very  rare  accomplish- 
ment in  those  days — and  because  he  had  displayed  commend- 
able zeal  and  pastoral  wisdom,  he  was  just  the  man  needed  to 
reorganize  the  congregations  of  the  Cumberland  parish  in 
Maryland.  Reluctant  as  he  was  to  leave  his  work  in  north- 
western Pennsylvania,  he  went  to  Cumberland,  where  he 
found  the  church-building  and  the  congregation  in  the  town 
in  a  woeful  state  of  collapse.  The  Methodists  had  converted 
(?)  most  of  the  Lutherans.  All  but  Martin  Rizer,  a  faithful 
deacon,  and  four  other  men  with  their  famih'es  had  deserted 
the  congregation.  Enthusiastically  aided  by  his  loyal  deacon, 
Heyer  began  the  work  of  reconstruction.  "My  English  ser- 
mons, at  first,"  wrote  Heyer,  "attracted  no  special  attention, 
the  proselyters  harboring  no  fear  that  the  little  German 
preacher  would  put  a  stop  to  their  sheep-stealing;  but  gradu- 
ally, as  through  diligence  and  practice  I  attained  greater  pro- 
ficiency, the  audience  increased.  The  people  were  curious  to 
hear  the  strange  preacher;  the  crowds  came  to  us."  For  six 
years  he  labored  wisely  and  well  in  Cumberland,  rebuilding 
the  dilapidated  log  church,  reorganizing  the  congrega- 
tion, increasing  its  membership,  and  serving  seven  or 
eight  preaching  points  in  the  country.  His  parish  ex- 


28       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

tended  eighty  miles  east  and  west  and  thirty  miles  north  and 
south.1 

After  having  been  a  candidate  for  ordination,  licensed  to 
preach  and  administer  the  holy  sacraments,  for  three  years, 
he  was  solemnly  ordained  a  deacon  at  the  Lancaster,  Pa., 
meeting  of  the  Ministerium  in  i82o,2  and  was  at  the  same  time 
appointed  to  undertake  a  missionary  tour  through  parts  of 
Kentucky  and  Indiana.  He  spent  three  months,  from  July 
to  October,  1820,  on  this  tour,  covering  a  territory  of  twenty- 
five  hundred  miles,  travelling  at  first  on  foot  and  then  on 
horseback,  preaching  wherever  he  coald  gather  a  few  people, 
administering  the  holy  sacraments,  and  distributing  German 
and  English  tracts.3 

In  September,  1822,  the  congregation  in  Cumberland, 
being  then  in  its  most  flourishing  state  during  Heyer's  pas- 
torate, entertained  the  newly  organized  synod  of  Virginia 
and  Maryland,  which  he  had  joined  the  year  previous  and 
which  had  admitted  him  as  a  full-fledged  pastor. 

During  the  fall  and  winter  of  1822  and  throughout  1823, 
Cumberland  was  visited  by  a  prolonged  epidemic  of  fever. 
Not  a  family  escaped.  Heyer  lost  his  youngest  child  and  he 
himself  contracted  the  disease.  He  and  his  family,  as  well  as 
many  of  the  townspeople,  spent  the  summer  of  1823  in  the 
mountains  near  Cumberland.  During  his  absence  the  Cum- 
berland congregation  became  sadly  disorganized;  and,  after 
having  supplied  the  congregation  in  Somerset,  Pa.,  for  several 
months,  he  followed  a  call  to  that  parish  in  1824.*  In  Somer- 

1  He  served  either  temporarily  or  permanently  the  Wellersville  (Wellersburg) , 
Combs,  Greenville,  Uhls,  Yough,  Glades,  Germany  and  George's  Hill  congre- 
gations. 

2  Theological  students  who  preached  were  termed  catechists.     Then  they 
were  licensed  and  tested  in  some  parish,  their  license  being  annually  renewed, 
until  they  were  ordained  deacons.     Subsequently  they  were  admitted  to  the 
Ministerium  as  regular  pastors  by  the  right  hand  of  fellowship. 

3  The  synod  paid  for  these  tracts  and  gave  Heyer  a  compensation  of  forty 
dollars  a  month  for  his  service.    He  found  Lutherans  scattered  through  Boone, 
Jefferson  and  Nelson  counties  in  Kentucky,  and  through  Harrison,  Boyd  and 
Jefferson  counties  in  Indiana.    During  his  absence  the  Cumberland  congrega- 
tion was  supplied  by  the  Rev.  A.  Reck,  of  Winchester,  Va.;  the  Rev.  C.  P. 
Krauth,  of  Shepherdstown,  Va.,  and  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Kurtz,  of  Hagerstown, 
Md. 

4  This  parish  consisted  of  congregations  in  Somerset,  Friedensburg,  Stoys- 
town  and  Samuels. 


FIRST    FOREIGN    MISSIONARY,    REV.    C.    F.    HEYER,  M.  D.       29 

set  he  was  called  upon  to  wage  a  spiritual  warfare  against 
the  followers  of  Alexander  Campbell.  In  the  midst  of  a 
series  of  sermons  directed  against  the  errors  of  this  new  sect, 
which  disturbed  the  minds  of  many  in  his  congregation,  the 
frame  church-building  of  the  Lutheran  congregation  was 
destroyed  by  fire.  Suspicion  of  incendiarism  rested  on  a 
certain  Campbellite.  The  embers  of  the  ruined  church  still 
glowed  when  Alexander  Campbell  himself  arrived  from 
Washington,  Pa.,  to  crush  the  little  Lutheran  preacher  who 
had  dared  to  call  the  Campbellite  teachings  into  question. 
The  sympathies  of  the  people,  however,  were  with  the  afflicted 
Lutheran  congregation  and  Campbell  got  a  scant  hearing. 
The  congregation  at  once  began  to  build  a  new  brick  church, 
the  corner-stone  of  which  was  laid  in  1825;  but  soon  there- 
after the  building  operations  were  suspended,  and  Heyer 
resigned,  in  1827,  to  follow  a  call  to  Carlisle,  Pa.,  succeeding 
the  Rev.  Benjamin  Keller. 

While  pastor  in  Somerset  he  helped  to  organize  the  synod 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  west  of  the  Susque- 
hanna  River,  afterward  called  the  West  Pennsylvania  Synod,1 
and  at  its  meeting  at  York,  Pa.,  in  1828,  he  was  elected 
secretary.  Three  years  later  at  Indiana,  Pa.,  he  was  honored 
with  the  office  of  president. 

On  June  21,  1830,  Heyer  became  the  agent  of  "The  Sunday 
School  Union  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  the 
United  States,"  which  had  been  formed  in  October,  1829,  by 
a  number  of  delegates  to  the  General  Synod  at  Hagerstown, 
Md.,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  West  Pennsylvania  Synod. 
Heyer,  who  had  been  the  chairman  of  the  committee  which 
drafted  the  constitution  of  the  society,  entered  on  the  dudes 
of  the  newly  created  office  with  much  enthusiasm.  He  was 
convinced  that  what  the  church  needed  at  that  time,  above  all 
other  things,  was  the  organization  of  a  Sunday  school  in  every 
Lutheran  congregation.2  In  the  course  of  eighteen  months 

1  In  the  minutes  of  the  first  meeting  of  this  synod  held  at  Chambersburg, 
September  4,  1825,  he  is  recorded  as  a  member,  absent  and  excused. 

2  Experience  seems  to  have  cooled  his  ardor.    Some  years  later  he  wrote: 
"Sunday  schools  are  only  small  plasters  on  large  sores.    We  consider  it  our 
duty  to  recommend  their  establishment  most  heartily,  but  they  are  not  to  be 
considered  as  substitutes  for  Christian  day  schools." 


30       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

he  visited  about  three  hundred  congregations,  travelled  over 
3000  miles,  advised  and  aided  pastors  in  the  establishment  of 
Sunday  schools,1  and  distributed  and  sold  about  13,000  Ger- 
man Sunday  school  hymnals  and  tracts.2 

While  serving  in  the  capacity  of  Sunday  school  agent, 
Heyer  assisted  in  the  services  of  laying  the  corner-stone 
of  the  Seminary  building  in  Gettysburg,  May  26,  1831, 
and  afterward  served  this  institution  as  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Directors.  He  was,  moreover,  one  of  the  first  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Pennsylvania  College. 

Although  heartily  commended  by  the  German  Sunday 
School  Union  at  its  meeting,  November  13,  1831,  for  "his 
faithful  and  successful  exertions  to  promote  the  object  of  his 
appointment,"  he  felt  constrained  to  resign  at  that  meeting, 
partly  because  of  a  lack  of  sufficient  support  and  partly  because 
of  "the  weariness  and  difficulty"  of  winter  travelling  in  the 
open  country. 

The  congregation  in  Somerset,  Pa.,  which  had  been  un- 
fortunate in  its  selection  of  Meyer's  successor,  petitioned  the 
General  Synod,  in  1831,  to  permit  Heyer  to  return.  During 
his  absence  of  over  four  years  the  sectarians  had  wrought 
havoc  in  the  congregation,  the  church-building  had  remained 
in  the  unfinished  condition  in  which  he  had  left  it,  and  the 
church  property  had  a  heavy  debt  resting  on  it.  Heyer  re- 
sumed charge  in  January,  1832.  So  vigorously  did  he  carry 
on  the  work  of  restoration  that  in  five  months  the  debt  was 
paid  and  the  new  church  completed  and  consecrated.  His 
second  pastorate  in  Somerset  lasted  about  four  years.  After 
he  had  preached  his  farewell  sermon  the  officers  of  the  con- 
gregation approached  him  with  a  petition  to  remain,  but  he 
comforted  them  with  the  assurance  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  "Be- 
hold, the  third  time  I  am  ready  to  come  to  you  "  (2  Cor.  12 : 14), 
and  with  many  good  wishes  they  let  him  enter  the  service  of 

1  In  1831  the  number  of  schools  connected  with  the  Union  was  74;  teachers , 
677;  and  pupils,  4890. 

2  The  first  German  Sunday  school  Hymnal  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in 
America  was  that  published  by  the  West  Pennsylvania  Synod  about  this 
time.     It  was  revised  and  enlarged  in  1832  and  contained  85  hymns,  and  was 
sold  at  six  cents  a  copy.     Heyer  wrote  the  manuscript  of  an  A  B  C  book  for 
Sunday  schools,  which,  however,  was  never  published. 


FIRST    FOREIGH    MISSIONARY,    REV.    C.    F.    HEYER,  M.  D.       31 

The  Central  Missionary  Society  of  the  General  Synod  as  its 
home  missionary  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  call  of  the 
society  specified  that  he  should  "traverse  the  principal  por- 
tions of  the  entire  Mississippi  Valley  and  ascertain  all  German 
settlements,  spending  a  short  time  in  each."  Starting  on  De- 
cember 30,  1835,  from  Somerset,  and  accompanied  as  far  as 
Laurel  Mountain1  by  two  of  the  deacons  of  his  late  parish, 
he  made  the  trip  from  Wheeling  to  Cincinnati  on  a  steamboat. 
In  the  state  of  Indiana  he  visited  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lehmanowsky 
in  Henry  County  and  co-operated  with  the  Rev.  B.  Haver- 
stick,  travelling  missionary  in  the  service  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Ministerium.  Following  the  Ohio  River  through  southern 
Illinois,  he  crossed  the  Mississippi  River  near  Cape  Girardeau 
into  Missouri,  traversing  the  eastern  part  of  that  state  and 
going  as  far  as  Iron  Mountain.  Returning  in  April,  1836,  he 
visited  the  central  counties  of  Illinois,  proceeded  as  far  north 
as  Peoria,  and  then  revisited  Wabash  County  in  order  to  assist 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Haverstick  in  laying  the  corner-stone  of  Jordan 
Creek  Union  Church,  west  of  Mt.  Carmel,  the  members  of 
which  were  mostly  Lutherans  from  Lehigh  and  Northampton 
counties,  Pa.  In  June  he  was  back  in  Somerset  after  an  ab- 
sence of  six  months  from  his  family  which  had  continued  to 
reside  there.  The  next  month  he  started  for  western  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Pittsburgh  was  then  looming  up  as  a  center  of  industry, 
and  many  Germans  had  settled  there.  A  German  Union 
congregation  had  been  established,  but  the  West  Pennsyl- 
vania Synod  desired  to  organize  an  English  church.  Heyer, 
together  with  a  number  of  other  pastors,  was  entrusted  with 
the  preliminary  work.  He  went  to  Pittsburgh  in  November, 
1836,  and,  with  the  aid  of  Mr.  G.  Weyman,  succeeded  in 
establishing  the  First  English  Lutheran  Church.  The  first 
steps  in  this  direction  were  taken  when  Heyer  preached  to  a 
small  audience  representing  seven  or  eight  Lutheran  families, 
assembled  in  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  on  the 
first  Sunday  in  November,  1836.  Several  weeks  later  he 

1  Here  they  were  hospitably  entertained  by  Mr.  J.  Gebhart,  the  treasurer 
of  Pennsylvania. 


32       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

revisited  Pittsburgh.  Meanwhile  the  Unitarian  church  build- 
ing in  Smithfield  Street  had  been  leased  for  six  months  and  the 
congregation  had  adopted  a  constitution.  Instructed  to 
remain  in  Pittsburgh,  Heyer  served  the  English  congregation 
and,  also,  in  January,  1837,  organized  Holy  Trinity  German 
Lutheran  Church,  which  worshipped  in  the  same  building. 
After  the  lease  had  expired  a  schoolhouse,  and  then  the  old 
court-house,  were  temporarily  used  by  both  congregations. 
Heyer  also  served  a  German  mission  in  Allegheny,  across  the 
river,  for  a  time. 

After  an  amicable  separation  of  the  English  and  German 
congregations,  thus  begun  by  Heyer,  he  continued  to  serve  the 
latter,  while  the  Rev.  E.  Fry  and  later  the  Rev.  D.  John 
McCron,  under  the  appointment  of  The  Central  Missionary 
Society,  served  the  English  congregation.  Under  Heyer's 
energetic  leadership  the  Germans  bought  a  lot  at  Sixth  and 
Grand  Streets  and  planned  to  build  a  church.  The  congre- 
gation, however,  was  poor,  and  Heyer  undertook  a  tour  in  the 
East  to  collect  a  building-fund.  He  returned  with  enough 
money  to  erect  the  church  which  was  consecrated  on  April  5, 
I840.1 

While  engaged  in  his  mission  work  in  Pittsburgh,  Mary, 
his  wife,  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  died  at  Somerset,  Pa., 
January  13,  1839,  aged  fifty-two  years,  nine  months  and 
twenty  days.  She  was  the  widow  of  Captain  Gash  when 
Heyer  married  her  in  1819.  Her  maiden  name  was  Mary 
Webb.  Six  children,  one  of  whom  died  in  infancy  at  Cumber- 
land, Md.,  were  born  of  their  union.  The  interment  was 
made  in  the  cemetery  of  the  Lutheran  Church  at  Friedens- 
burg,  near  Somerset. 

In  May,  1840,  Heyer  was  called  by  the  General  Synod's 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  to  be  its  foreign  missionary  to 
India.  He  handed  in  his  resignation  as  the  pastor  of  Trinity 
Church,  Pittsburgh,  but  the  congregation  was  unwilling  to  ac- 
cept it.  Thereupon  he  requested  the  male  members  of  the  con- 

1  The  English  congregation  also  bought  a  lot  on  Seventh  street  near  Smith- 
field  and  built  a  church,  Mr.  G.  Weyman  bearing  almost  all  of  the  expense. 
It  was  consecrated  at  the  meeting  of  the  West  Pennsylvania  Synod  in  October, 
1840. 


FIRST    FOREIGN    MISSIONARY,    REV.    C.    F.    HEYER,  M.  D.       33 

gregation  to  remain  after  the  Sunday  morning  service.  Ex- 
plaining the  situation  to  them,  he  asked  those  who  were  will- 
ing to  let  him  go  to  take  seats  on  the  right  side  of  the  church, 
and  those  who  were  unwilling,  on  the  left  side.  The  former 
were  in  the  majority,  and  after  a  few  words  of  encouragement 
he  dismissed  them  all,  thanking  them  for  concurring  in  his 
decision. 

Directed  by  the  executive  committee  of  The  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  "to  turn  his  attention  at  once  to  those  studies 
which  would  be  subservient  to  the  work  in  which  he  was  to 
engage,"  he  left  Pittsburgh  for  Baltimore,  where,  during  the 
fall  and  winter  of  1840-41,  he  attended  lectures  in  Washington 
University,  devoting  himself  to  the  study  of  medicine  and  San- 
scrit. Meanwhile  he  had  accepted  the  appointment  of  the 
Maryland  synod  of  which  he  again  had  become  a  member,  to 
take  charge  of  Trinity  Lutheran  church  at  Fell's  Point,  Balti- 
more. A  large  church  property,  belonging  to  Episcopalians, 
was  bought  and  repaired,  and  Heyer  served  the  congregation 
until  the  fall  of  1841.  He  preached  his  farewell  sermon  on 
Sunday,  September  26th  The  congregation  expressed  its 
regret  over  his  departure  and  its  sincere  appreciation  of  his 
service  in  a  set  of  resolutions  which  were  published  in  the 
church  papers. 

We  have  already  learned  how,  after  having  declined  the 
call  of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  General  Synod, 
Heyer  became  the  foreign  missionary  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Synod's  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel.  He  left 
Baltimore  on  September  3oth,  going  to  Gettysburg,  where  he 
left  his  youngest  son,  Theophilus.  Then  he  turned  his  face 
toward  India,  where  much  labor  and  sacrifice  but  also  great 
honor  and  blessing  awaited  him. 

Daring  the  twenty-four  years  which  elapsed  between  his 
licensure  and  his  departure  for  India,  Heyer  held  eight  differ- 
ent appointments,  averaging  three  years  in  each.  The  reason 
for  these  frequent  changes  may  be  found,  in  part,  in  a  roving 
disposition;  but  we  must  not  overlook  the  fact  that  the  work 
to  which  he  was  called  in  most  of  his  appointments  was  of  a 
temporary  character.  At  any  rate,  it  is  evident  that  the 


34      AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

Church  always  displayed  confidence  in  his  ability  and  fidelity, 
regardless  of  the  task  which  it  asked  him  to  undertake.  As 
new  movements  were  begun  Heyer  was  selected  to  do  the 
pioneer  work,  and  he  never  failed  to  respond  to  the  call  even 
though  the  prospects  were  not  promising.  He  served  in  six 
established  congregations  or  parishes  and  all  but  one  of  them 
in  some  way  expressed  sincere  regret  at  his  departure.  To- 
day, after  more  than  half  a  century,  every  congregation  with 
which  his  name  was  in  any  way  associated,  refers  to  that  asso- 
ciation with  justifiable  pride,  for  Father  Heyer  is  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  great  men  of  our  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in 
America. 


CHAPTER  III 

HEYER'S  FIRST  JOURNEY  TO  INDIA 

IN  the  official  call  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium,1  Heyer 
was  instructed  to  depart  for  East  India  as  soon  as  he  could 
prepare  himself  for  the  journey,  and  to  begin  his  work  as  a 
missionary  in  India,  "whenever  the  Lord  would  open  the 
way."  His  travelling  expenses  were  to  be  paid  and  he  was 
to  receive  an  annual  salary  of  $600.  It  was  agreed  that,  if 
this  sum  proved  more  than  sufficient,  his  salary  was  to  be 
reduced  "in  proportion  to  his  wants."  On  the  other  hand, 
the  committee  agreed  to  increase  it,  if  it  proved  inadequate. 
The  sum  of  $150  was  advanced  for  an  outfit  and  he  was  per- 
mitted to  spend  "a  moderate  sum  for  the  purchase  of  picto- 
rial representations  of  Biblical  history,  if  he  should  consider 
them  useful  and  necessary  in  the  instruction  of  the  heathen." 

A  special  appeal  for  contributions  addressed  to  all  Luth- 
erans in  the  United  States,  written  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baker, 
of  Trinity  Church,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  the  treasurer  of  the  society, 
was  published  in  German  in  the  "  Kirchenzeitung "  and  in 
English  in  "The  Lutheran  Observer."  The  appeal  reads  as 
follows: 

To  the  ministers  and  congregations  of  the  Evangelical  Luth- 
eran Church  in  the  United  States. 

Respected  Brethren :  The  Missionary  Society  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Synod  of  Pennsylvania  resolved  at  its 
last  meeting  to  establish  a  mission  among  the  Hindus 
in  India.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Mueller  in  Tinnevelly,  to  whose 

1  The  executive  committee  which  called  him  was  constituted  as  follows: 
The  officers  of  the  society,  namely,  the  Rev.  Wm.  Beates,  president;  the  Rev. 
J.  Haesbert,  vice-president;  the  Rev.  Fr.  Schmidt,  secretary;  the  Rev.  C.  R. 
Demme,  D.  D.,  corresponding  secretary;  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Baker,  D.  D.,  treasurer; 
and  three  directors,  the  Rev.  H.  S.  Miller,  Mr.  C.  Hager  and  Mr.  J.  F.  Hein- 
itsch. 

35 


36       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

support  we  heretofore  contributed,  having  again  entered 
into  connection  with  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  and 
that  society  being  fully  competent  to  sustain  that  mis- 
sion station,  no  further  aid  in  his  behalf  is  required  from 
us.  In  order,  however,  to  take  an  active  part  hi  evangel- 
izing the  heathen,  which  we  regard  as  a  sacred  duty  of  the 
Church  of  God,  we  have  resolved  in  humble  reliance  on  the 
great  Head  of  the  Church  to  send  our  beloved  brother,  C.  F. 
Heyer,  to  the  East  Indies.  He  will,  accordingly,  proceed  to 
that  region  to  prosecute  the  work  under  the  superintendence 
of  our  mission  society.  We  indulge  the  hope  that  our  con- 
gregations will  effectually  support  us  in  this  enterprise;  and, 
whereas  many  Lutheran  ministers  belonging  to  other  synods 
are  not  in  favor  of  sending  a  missionary  in  connection  with  the 
American  Board  and  have  signified  their  willingness  to  afford 
assistance  to  our  mission,  we  assure  them  that  their  donations 
will  be  thankfully  received  and  applied  to  the  above  purpose. 
The  treasurer  of  the  society  will  present  to  the  Church  an  exact 
statement  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  assure  the  Church  that  we  shall  not  lose  sight  of 
our  dispersed  and  destitute  brethren  in  this  country,  espe- 
cially hi  the  distant  West;  but  we  shall  continue,  as  hereto- 
fore, to  provide  for  them  to  the  utmost  of  our  ability. 

May  the  Lord,  our  God,  bless  us  and  establish  the  work 
of  our  hands,  yea,  the  work  of  our  hands  may  the  Lord  estab- 
lish. 

Written  in  the  name  of  the  Mission  Society  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Synod  of  Pennsylvania. 

John  C.  Baker,  Treasurer. 

The  response  to  this  appeal  justified  the  faith  of  those 
who  thus  ventured  on  this  pioneer  project.1 

On  Sunday,  October  5,  1841,  Heyer,  then  forty-eight 
years  of  age,  was  solemnly  commissioned  at  a  public  service 
in  St.  Paul's  German  Lutheran  Church,  Philadelphia.  The 

1  The  congregations  in  York,  Pa.,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lochmann,  pastor,  and  in 
Baltimore,  Md.,  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Morris,  pastor,  contributed  liberally  for  Heyer's 
outfit.  St.  John's  English  Church,  Philadelphia,  gave  him  $60  for  the  establish- 
ment and  maintenance  of  mission  schools. 


HEYER'S  FIRST  JOURNEY  TO  INDIA  37 

charge  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Baker,  D.  D.,  and 
the  missionary-elect  preached  a  sermon,  choosing  as  his  text 
Jonah  3:2.  Heyer  spent  several  days  in  Boston  with  a  num- 
ber of  the  members  of  the  American  Board  and  attended  the 
service  of  farewell  to  that  Board's  missionaries,  whom  he  was 
to  accompany  to  Ceylon. 

Before  sailing  Heyer  received  letters  of  recommendation 
and  credentials  from  the  faculties  of  Pennsylvania  College  and 
of  the  Seminary  at  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  and  from  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Missionary  Society,  which,  besides  whatever 
other  useful  purpose  they  may  have  served,  greatly  strength- 
ened the  heart  of  the  missionary  who  was  leaving  behind  all 
that  was  precious  to  him,  in  order  that  he  might  follow  the 
call  of  the  Lord  to  a  land  of  which  he  knew  practically  nothing, 
excepting  only  this,  that  it  needed  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

In  those  days  it  was,  indeed,  a  hazardous  undertaking  to 
go  to  a  heathen  land  as  a  Christian  missionary;  and,  though 
the  Hindus  were  known  to  be  a  peaceable  people  among 
whom  a  missionary  might  labor  without  the  fear  of  martyr- 
dom, the  voyage  by  sea  in  a  sailing  vessel  around  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  lasting  not  less  than  five  months,  involved  con- 
siderable discomfort  and  tediousness,  not  to  say  danger,  as 
compared  with  our  modern  methods  of  rapid,  comfortable 
and  safe  transit  over  sea  and  land.  Moreover,  sixty  and 
more  years  ago,  life  in  South  India  for  an  American  or  Euro- 
pean lacked  many  of  the  sanitary  safeguards  and  physical 
comforts  of  to-day. 

The  opening  phrase  of  Heyer's  farewell  letter  written 
in  Boston  just  before  sailing,  "This  being  the  last  Sunday 
which  I  shall  probably  spend  in  the  United  States,"  indicates 
that  his  mind  was  not  entirely  free  from  grave  apprehension; 
but  that  the  spirit  of  heroic  faith  suppressed  all  feelings  of 
fear  is  evident  from  the  closing  sentences.  '  'All  ready  to  be- 
gin the  voyage,"  wrote  the  intrepid  pioneer.  "I  feel  calm  and 
cheerful,  having  taken  this  step  after  serious  and  prayerful 
consideration.  The  smiles  of  friends  have  cheered,  and  the 
approbation  of  the  churches  has  encouraged  me  thus  far.  But 


38       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

I  am  aware  that,  ere  long,  amidst  a  tribe  of  men  whose  lan- 
guage will  be  strange  to  me,  I  shall  behold  those  smiles  only 
in  remembrance,  and  hear  the  voice  of  encouragement  only 
in  dying  whispers  across  the  ocean;  and  then  nothing  but  the 
grace  of  God,  nothing  but  a  thorough  conviction  of  being  in 
the  path  of  duty,  nothing  but  the  approving  smile  of  Heaven 
can  keep  me  from  despondency. 

'  Farewell,  a  long  farewell, 

For  we  may  meet  no  more, 
Until  we're  raised  in  heaven  to  dwell 
On  Canaan's  blissful  shore.'  " 

The  good  ship  "Brenda,"  under  command  of  Captain  A. 
Ward,  left  the  harbor  of  Boston,  October  15,  1841,  carrying 
a  cargo  of  ice  and  eight  passengers,  all  of  whom  were  mission- 
aries or  wives  of  missionaries.  In  a  letter  written  at  sea 
several  hundred  miles  east  of  Bahia,  Brazil,  dated  November, 
1841,  and  forwarded  to  the  United  States  by  a  whaling  vessel, 
Heyer  said  that  the  voyage  up  to  that  time  had  been  pleasant 
and  that  he  had  devoted  much  time  to  the  study  of  Tamil. 
December  2oth,  the  "Brenda"  passed  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
under  full  sail.  Two  weeks  later  the  southern  point  of  Mada- 
gascar was  reached.  Several  days  were  spent  in  the  island  of 
Zanzibar,  where  the  missionaries  enjoyed  a  visit  to  the  palace 
of  Seyed  Syed,  Ben  Sultan  and  Sultan  of  Muscat,  who  enter- 
tained them  in  oriental  fashion. 

Zanzibar  and  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa  opposite  impressed 
Heyer  as  a  good  field  for  missionary  operations.  In  fact,  he 
was  strongly  inclined  to  stay  and  labor  there,  but  decided  that 
the  instructions  he  had  received  from  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee demanded  that  he  should  proceed  to  India. 

On  Tuesday,  March  i5th,  just  five  months  after  having 
sailed  from  Boston,  the  "Brenda"  cast  anchor  in  the  harbor 
of  Colombo,  Ceylon,  landing  her  eight  passengers  the  next 
day.  Seven  of  them  had  reached  their  field  of  labor.  One 
of  them,  whom  we  shall  follow  farther  on  his  way,  still 
had  a  journey  of  about  a  thousand  miles  before  him. 
After  spending  a  number  of  days  in  Colombo  in  the  com- 


HEYER'S  FIRST  JOURNEY  TO  INDIA  39 

pany  of  Protestant  missionaries  laboring  in  that  city,  and 
preaching  a  sermon  in  the  church  in  which  eighty  years  be- 
fore the  venerable  Christian  Frederick  Schwartz  had  preached 
and  administered  the  sacraments,  Heyer  boarded  the  "La 
Felice,"  which  weighed  anchor  during  the  night  of  March 
i gth,  bound  for  Tuticorin  on  the  Coromandel  coast  of  South 
India.  In  three  days  that  port  was  safely  reached.  "The 
dangers  of  a  long  sea  voyage  are  overcome,"  wrote  the  pio- 
neer. "With  heartfelt  gratitude  to  the  Father  of  mercies  and 
God  of  all  consolation  and  grace  in  Christ  Jesus,  our  Re- 
deemer, I  raised  my  Ebenezer  at  Tuticorin  on  March  23, 
1842." 

At  Tuticorin  Heyer  engaged  a  palankeen  and  bearers  for 
his  journey  inland.  After  an  all-night  run  Palamcotta  was 
reached.  Here,  where  Rhenius  had  preached,  labored,  suffered 
and  died,  Heyer,  on  Good  Friday,  1842,  attended  a  Tamil 
service  in  the  church  built  by  Rhenius  in  1826,  and,  for  the 
first  time,  heard  a  Hindu  preach. 

The  newly  arrived  missionary  was  greatly  pleased  to  find 
that  he  could  join  the  congregation  in  singing  the  Tamil 
translation  of  German  hymns  sung  to  their  familiar  tunes. 
Heyer,  moreover,  noted  the  customs,  introduced  by  the 
Halle  missionaries,  of  asking  questions  during  the  sermon 
and  of  writing  the  heads  of  discussion  on  palm  leaves.  One 
of  these  leaves  he  afterward  sent,  together  with  other  curios, 
to  the  Seminary  in  Gettysburg.  Under  the  guidance  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Hobbs  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  he  visited 
the  seminary  for  the  training  of  native  workers  and  the 
boarding  schools  for  Christian  boys  and  girls,  as  well  as  the 
schools  for  Hindu  children,  in  Palamcotta,  thus  obtaining 
valuable  information  for  the  work  which  awaited  him  in  the 
Telugu  country. 

After  having  purchased  a  second-hand  palankeen  in  Tin- 
nevelly  and  engaged  bearers,  he  proceeded  to  Kotaur  where, 
most  unexpectedly,  he  met  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mueller,  Rhenius' 
son-in-law,  with  whom  he  was  privileged  to  spend  a  few  hours 
in  profitable  conversation.  At  Satur  Heyer  quietly  spent  his 
first  Easter  Sunday  in  India  in  a  travellers'  bungalow.  March 


40       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 


he  arrived  at  Madura,  once  the  seat  of  the  powerful 
Pandyan  monarchy,  where  missionaries  D  wight  and  Ward 
of  the  American  Board  were  establishing  a  mission. 

As  he  approached  Trichinopoly,  early  Sunday  morning, 
April  3d,  he  looked  forward  with  peculiar  joy  to  a  visit  to 
scenes  and  places,  which,  more  than  any  others,  recalled  the 
remarkable  life  and  career  of  the  great  Schwartz.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Kohlhoff,  his  host  in  Trichinopoly,  who  had  been  born  in 
India  and  whose  father  and  grandfather  had  been  missionaries 
there,  guided  him  to  the  church  and  to  the  dwelling  of  the 
sainted  Schwartz,  and  gave  him  an  insight  into  the  interesting 
life  of  a  Hindu  village  and  an  opportunity  to  attend  one  of  the 
monthly  meetings  of  native  workers,  which,  since  the  days  of 
the  first  Halle  missionaries  had  been  a  regular  feature  of  mis- 
sion work  in  India.  The  next  stage  of  the  palankeen  journey 
brought  Heyer  to  Tanjore  where  he  arrived  on  April  5th.  In 
the  company  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson,  a  missionary  in  the 
service  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  he  vis- 
ited the  chapel  in  which  the  body  of  Schwartz  lies  buried. 
Standing  near  the  pulpit  he  reverently  viewed  the  grave 
and  read  the  inscription  on  the  granite  stone,  which  Serfojee, 
the  Rajah  of  Tanjore,  had  caused  to  be  inscribed  on  it. 

From  Tanjore  Heyer  went  to  Tranquebar,  where  the 
memorials  of  the  beginning  of  the  Danish-Halle  Mission  by 
Ziegenbalg  and  Pluetschau,  in  1706,  occupied  his  devout  atten- 
tion. Entering  the  New  Jerusalem  Church,  he  beheld  the 
vault  near  the  altar,  which  contains  the  earthly  remains  of  the 
first  Protestant  foreign  missionary,  Bartholomew  Ziegen- 
balg, and  read  the  Latin  epitaph  on  the  copper  plate  on  the 
vault.  Continuing  his  journey  northward  through  Cudda- 
lore  and  Pondicherry,  Heyer  finally  reached  Madras,  April 
16,  1842,  half  a  year  after  his  departure  from  America.  Four 
days  later  he  wrote:  "Some  of  the  brethren  at  Colombo  told 
me  that  hi  travelling  overland  at  this  season  of  the  year  I 
should  suffer  from  oppressive  heat;  also  that  my  road  would 
lead  through  several  districts  where  the  cholera  raged;  .  .  . 
moreover,  that  it  would  not  be  an  easy  matter  to  get  along 
with  the  natives  on  account  of  my  imperfect  knowledge  of 


A  PALANKEEN   FOR  BRIDES   AND   BRIDEGROOMS 
The   common   palankeen   is  less   ornate. 


A  JINRIKISHA 
Dr.   Amy  B.   Rohrer  is  seated  in  the  Jinrikisha. 


A   BULLOCK    i:.\M>Y 


AN  ELEPHANT  CART 


HEYER  S    FIRST    JOURNEY    TO    INDIA  41 

the  language.  But  the  Lord  has  enabled  me  to  overcome 
these  difficulties  and  I  have  travelled  four  or  five  hundred 
miles  in  the  interior  of  southern  India  without  enduring  any 
great  hardships.  The  heat  I  found  tolerable;  the  pestilence 
was  not  permitted  to  harm  me;  and  with  the  native  Indians  I 
made  out  by  words  and  signs  as  well  as  I  could." 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    SELECTION    OF    THE    FOREIGN    MISSION    FIELD    IN    INDIA 

THE  Telugus,  among  whom  Heyer  had  been  directed  to 
establish  the  American  Evangelical  Lutheran  Mission  in 
India,  inhabit  that  part  of  the  peninsula  which  extends  north- 
ward from  the  city  of  Madras  along  the  coast  of  the  bay  of 
Bengal  almost  as  far  as  the  Mahanadi  River,  to  the  confines 
of  Bengal,  and  far  inland  into  the  heart  of  the  Dekkan,  cover- 
ing a  territory  somewhat  larger  than  Spain.1 

The  Telugu  country  lies  in  the  tropical  zone  between  13° 
and  20°  north  latitude,  on  a  line  with  Central  America, 
the  southern  part  of  Mexico  and  the  islands  of  Jamaica, 
Hayti  and  Porto  Rico.  Two  large  rivers,  the  Godavery 
and  the  Kistna,  flow  through  the  Telugu  country.  The 
delta-land  of  the  Godavery  is  very  fertile,  numerous  canals 
irrigating  the  soil  and  furnishing  also  a  means  of  travel 
and  traffic.  The  chief  products  of  this  country  are  rice, 
sugar,  cotton  and  indigo.  Among  the  tropical  fruits  which 
are  cultivated  the  mango  is  especially  prized.  "What  the 
apple  is  to  the  American  people  the  mango  is  to  the  people  of 
India.  It  grows  everywhere.  Often  large  mango  trees  line 
both  sides  of  a  public  road  or  occupy  waste  ground  near 
villages,  and  being  free  to  the  poor,  these  become  a  great  boon 
during  the  fruitage  season."  Palm  trees  of  all  kinds  are 
numerous;  the  teak  of  the  native  forests  is  used  in  the  con- 

1  "This  tract  of  country  comprehends  the  British  districts  of  Ganjam, 
Vizagapatam,  Godavery,  Kistna  and  Nellore,  the  greater  portion  of  the  Nizam's 
territory,  the  districts  of  Kurnool  and  Cuddapa,  the  northern  and  eastern 
portions  of  Bellary  and  the  eastern  parts  of  Mysore  and  North  Arcot." — 
Arden's  "Telugu  Grammar." 

"The  Telugu  or  Tenugu  nation  (which  foreigners  call  Telinga)  fills  a  country 
larger  than  Spain  to  the  west  and  north  of  Madras  town.  In  some  English 
books  it  is  called  Telingana  or  Golconda.  It  is  contained  in  circles  which  we 
may  describe  on  the  map  around  Kadapa,  Rajahmundry  and  Kondapilli,  the 
radius  extending  to  Madras;  also  one  round  Visakhapatnam  reaching  to  Gan- 
jam toward  Puri  (Paory)  in  Kattack,  often  called  Jagannath." — Introduction 
to  "Brown's  English  and  Telugu  Dictionary,"  Part  I. 

42 


SELECTION    OF    THE    FOREIGN"   MISSION    FIELD    IN    INDIA       43 

struction  of  the  better  class  of  houses;  and  the  Indian  banyan, 
noted  throughout  the  world,  is  a  familiar  object  to  the  natives. 

The  Telugus  are  one  of  the  most  numerous  of  the  Dravidian 
tribes  which  were  forced  down  from  the  high  plateaus  of  North 
India  into  the  southern  plains  by  the  invasion  of  the  Aryans 
through  the  passes  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains.  According 
to  the  census  of  1901  the  Telugus  numbered  20,696,872;  all 
Dravidians,  56,000,000.  To-day  the  number  of  the  Telugus 
may  be  about  23,000,000.  Compared  with  the  Aryans  of 
North  India,  the  Dravidians  have  a  darker  complexion, 
longer  heads,  flatter  noses,  more  irregular  features,  and  are 
shorter  in  stature.  In  lieu  of  physical  strength  and  vigor  they 
possess,  to  a  marked  degree,  the  power  of  patient  endurance. 
By  the  side  of  a  highly  developed  mystical  sense  there  exists  a 
very  low  standard  of  morality,  both  being  largely  the  products 
of  the  prevailing  religion. 

Like  all  India,  the  Telugu  country  is  a  land  of  villages. 
"Ninety  per  cent,  of  the  population  lives  in  towns  or  villages, 
which,  although  differing  in  size,  do  not  vary  much  in  general 
appearance."  Cases  of  a  moral  nature  are  decided  by  the 
headman  of  the  village,  assisted  by  a  clerk  and  a  council  of 
four  elders.  A  town  is  an  overgrown  village  and  has  a  mag- 
istrate and  a  petty  court  to  manage  its  judicial  affairs.  The 
cultivated  land  around  the  villages  is  frequently  owned  by 
absentee  landlords,  called  zemindars,  whose  bond-servants  the 
farmers  usually  are.  The  homes  of  wealthy  natives  are  large 
bungalows  with  capacious  verandas;  those  of  the  middle  and 
lower  classes  are  gloomy  and  unattractive,  usually  consisting 
of  one  or  two  rooms,  earthen  floor,  mud  walls  and  a  thatched 
roof  of  palm  leaves.  Little  furniture  is  used,  and  in  many 
homes  cows,  calves,  buffaloes  and  bullocks  are  received 
on  intimate  terms.  A  few  brass  plates,  cups  or  mugs,  earthen 
cooking  vessels  and  water-jars,  a  knife  but  no  forks  are  the 
ordinary  kitchen  utensils.  They  are  kept  scrupulously  clean 
lest  the  food  should  be  defiled  and  the  caste  broken. 

The  Christian  home,  as  we  know  it,  is  unknown  to  the 
Hindu,  "there  being  no  equivalent  for  the  word  in  any  Indian 
language."  The  young  husband  brings  his  wife  to  his  father's 


44       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

house,  where  she  becomes  subject  to  her  mother-in-law.  She 
never  appears  in  public  in  the  company  of  any  man,  not  even 
of  her  husband.  If  a  son  is  born  of  the  wedlock,  the  husband 
does  not,  usually,  seek  a  second  wife,  but  the  wife  who  has  no 
son  is  sometimes  cast  off  or,  at  least,  treated  with  contempt. 
Only  a  small  percentage  of  the  high  caste  Hindu  women  are 
secluded  in  zenanas.  Betrothal  takes  place  when  the  bride  is  a 
mere  child  or  even  a  helpless  babe;  and  if  the  husband  be- 
trothed dies,  the  baby-wife  becomes  a  widow  and  may  never 
remarry.  A  widower,  however,  may  marry  again.  Many 
marriages  are  merely  mercenary  transactions.  The  legal  age 
of  actual  marriages  was  raised  from  ten  to  twelve  years  by  the 
"Age  of  Consent  Bill"  in  1891. l 

The  ordinary  daily  food  of  the  people  is  rice  with  curry,  or 
some  form  of  millet.  Their  clothing  is  scant,  and,  as  a  rule, 
children  wear  no  clothing  until  they  are  four  or  five  years  of 
age.  The  passion  of  the  people  for  jewelry,  the  love  of  dis- 
play, feasting  at  weddings  and  festivals,  and  the  litigation  in 
which  they  are  often  involved,  frequently  leave  them  for 
years  in  the  clutches  of  the  money-lender. 

The  prevailing  religion  of  the  Telugus  is  Modern  Hindu- 
ism, an  undefinable  religious  composite  of  gross  polytheism 
and  underlying  pantheism,  with  absurd  superstitions,  innu- 
merable deities,  low  moral  standards,  foolish  ceremonies  and 
a  tyrannical  caste  system.  The  divisions  and  sub-divisions 
of  caste  are  altogether  too  numerous  to  mention;  but,  in 
general,  we  may  distinguish  between  the  Brahmins  or  priests, 
the  Sudras  or  middle-class,  the  Panchamas  (fifth  class)  or 
outcasts.  The  following  are  the  principle  rales  of  caste: 
Intermarriage  is  forbidden;  occupation  is  hereditary;  per- 
sons of  different  caste  may  not  eat  together  nor  drink  out 
of  the  same  vessel;  no  man  of  an  inferior  caste  may  touch 
the  food  or  enter  the  cook-room;  the  higher  caste-man  is 
a  vegetarian;  an  ocean  voyage  beyond  the  confines  of  India 
is  prohibited.  The  caste  system  has  for  ages  strangled  am- 
bition, choked  aspiration,  and  held  back  progress.  It  has  made 

^n  1901  the  widows  of  India  numbered  25,891,936,  of  whom  391,147  were 
under  fifteen  years  of  age. 


SELECTION    OF    THE    FOREIGN    MISSION    FIELD    IN    INDIA       45 

unity  of  thought,  purpose  or  action  for  the  common  good  a 
practical  impossibility,  and  has  fostered  suspicion,  jealousy, 
and  selfishness.  It  has  preserved  the  position  and  power  of 
the  Brahmins  as  the  religious  autocrats  of  India  and  has  been 
the  greatest  impediment  to  the  work  of  Christian  missions. 


To  this  land  and  these  people,  the  Telugus,  Heyer  was 
sent  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  establish  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Other  Protestant  missionaries  had  been  there  before 
he  came  and  had  begun  missions.  We  will  let  him  tell  us  the 
history  of  these  earlier  missions  up  to  the  time  of  his  arrival 
in  India: 

"The  Rev.  Dr.  Schultze,  one  of  the  early  Halle-Danish 
Lutheran  missionaries,  was  the  first  to  turn  his  attention  to  the 
Telugu  people.  A  large  number  of  the  people  of  Madras  are 
Telugus,  also  called  Gunturs.  For  their  benefit  Telugu 
schools  were  established  by  Schultze.1  He  also  translated  the 
Bible  into  Telugu,  but,  having  as  yet  no  means  of  printing  it 
in  Madras,  he  took  it  to  Halle  on  his  return  to  Germany.  The 
manuscript  was  sent  to  London,  where  it  is  still  to  be  found 
in  one  of  the  museums.  It  is  stated  that  Dr.  Schultze's  munshi 
or  Telugu  teacher  became  a  true  Christian  and  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  firstfruits  to  Christ  among  the  Telugu  people. 

"In  1805  the  first  settled  mission  to  the  Telugus  was  com- 
menced by  the  London  Missionary  Society  at  Vizagapatam, 
where  Messrs.  Cran  and  Desgrange  were  appointed  to  labor. 
These  missionaries  were  much  encouraged  by  the  aid  fur- 
nished them  by  a  Telugu  Brahmin,  who  had  been  baptized  by 
the  Romanists  and  afterward  was  received  into  the  Lutheran 
mission  at  Tranquebar.2 

"The  second  mission  among  the  Telugus  was  founded  at 

1  Schultze  began  work  as  a  Christian  missionary  in  Madras  in  1726. 

2  Heyer  continues  the  history  of  this  first  Protestant  mission  among  the 
Telugus  as  follows:    "Mr.  Cran  died  in  1809;  Mr.  Desgrange,  in  1810.    The 
London  Missionary  Society  sent  out  Messrs.  Gordon  and  Lee  to  continue 
the  work  at  Vizagapatam.    They  were  soon  joined  by  Mr.  Pritchett,  who  had 
been  compelled  to  leave  his  mission  in  Rangoon.    Mr.  Lee  left  in  1815  and  Mr. 
Dawson  arrived  the  same  year  and  took  his  place.    The  translation  of  the  New 
Testament  was  completed  and  put  into  circulation  before  Mr.  Pritchett's 
death  in  1820." 


46       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

Cuddapah  in  1822  (London  Missionary  Society).  Until  1836 
Vizagapatam  and  Cuddapah  were  the  only  missions  among 
the  Telugus.  The  next  station  was  established  at  Narsapur 
by  Messrs.  Bowden  and  Beer  in  1836.  These  laborers  for 
Christ,  who  had  come  to  India  anxious  to  carry  on  missionary 
work  while  supporting  themselves  by  their  trades,  were  two 
young  tradesmen  from  Barnstable,  England.  The  latter  part 
of  their  scheme  failed  as  it  does  elsewhere,  but  Christian  friends 
took  up  their  cause  and  sent  them  support.  Both  succeeded 
in  learning  the  language  well  and  became  very  useful  in  the 
region  of  the  country  which  they  occupied. 

"The  London  Society  established  in  1839,  at  Chicacole,  an- 
other mission,  which  was  an  offshoot  of  Vizagapatam.  The 
Church  Missionary  Society  was  the  next  to  come  into  the 
field.  Two  of  their  agents,  Messrs.  Noble  and  Fox,  arrived 
at  Masulipatam  in  1840.  Since  that  time  the  station  has  been 
well  managed  and  well  supplied  and  is,  perhaps,  one  of  the 
most  efficient  missions  in  the  Telugu  country.  Nellore  was 
occupied  by  the  American  Baptists  in  1840,  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Jewell  and  Douglass  now  being  the  missionaries."1 

Reaching  Madras  on  April  16,  1842,  Heyer  was  welcomed 
and  hospitably  entertained  by  several  American,  English, 
and  Scotch  missionaries  laboring  in  that  city.  They  advised 
him  to  remain  a  number  of  months  in  the  city  and  devote 
himself  to  the  study  of  Telugu.  He  decided  to  follow  their 
advice.  "The  number  of  Telugu  people  residing  in  Madras," 
wrote  Heyer,  "is  estimated  at  100,000,  and  I  will  endeavor 
during  my  stay  in  this  place  to  become  acquainted  with  some 
of  them.  I  have  engaged  a  young  Brahmin  as  teacher  who 
is  to  instruct  me  in  Telugu.  A  Telugu  Brahmin  who  can 
speak  some  English  called  to  see  me  in  the  afternoon.  Among 
other  things  he  desired  to  know  my  name.  Being  told  that 
it  was  Heyer,  he  smiled,  and  said,  "I  do  not  mean  your 
office,  but  your  name."  Pointing  to  himself,  he  continued,  "I 
am  an  Eyer  (i.  e.,  a  priest,  a  Brahmin);  your  name,  sir!"  It 

1  Quoted  from  a  letter  written  to  the  Sunday  School  of  the  First  English 
Lutheran  Church,  Pittsburgh,  and  published  in  "The  Lutheran  Observer," 
July  n,  1856. 


SELECTION    OF    THE    FOREIGN    MISSION    FIELD    IN    INDIA      47 

was  my  turn  now  to  explain.  I  had  already  been  told  that 
Heyer  signifies  a  priest,  a  Brahmin,  and,  therefore,  remarked 
that  it  was  both  my  name  and  my  office.  He  thought  it  was 
rather  a  strange  coincidence,  and  so  it  may  appear  to  others, 
that  the  first  Lutheran  missionary  to  the  Telugus  should  be 
a  priest,  a  Brahmin,  by  name  and  by  office." 

After  a  month  of  study  Heyer's  desire  to  find,  as  soon  as 
possible,  a  suitable  location  for  the  mission  he  had  been  sent 
to  establish,  impelled  him  to  leave  Madras.  Early  on  the 
morning  of  May  igth  he  was  on  his  way  to  Nellore,  making 
the  first  stage  of  the  journey,  to  Sulurpet,  in  an  open  boat, 
"depending  on  the  palankeen  for  shelter  from  the  direct  rays 
of  the  sun."  It  was  a  hasty  and  hazardous  step,  for  May  is  the 
hottest  of  all  months  in  southeastern  India.  In  his  eagerness 
to  accomplish  something,  Heyer  scorned  the  danger  and  for- 
tunately remained  unharmed.  Arriving  at  Nellore  May  23d, 
he  met  the  American  Baptist  missionaries,  Day  and  Van 
Husen,  the  former  lying  on  a  bed  of  sickness.  Here  he 
remained  until  the  hot  season  was  over,  meanwhile  visiting 
the  schools  of  the  mission,  diligently  continuing  his  study  of 
Teluga,  in  which  he  heard  the  Gospel  preached  at  Nel- 
lore, accompanying  the  Rev.  Mr.  Van  Husen  and  his  native 
helpers  on  their  rounds  of  mission  work  and  preaching  a  few 
times  in  English  to  the  families  of  the  missionaries  and  other 
English  and  American  residents.  On  one  occasion  he  visited 
a  heathen  festival  at  lanavada,  and  besides  witnessing  the  dis- 
gusting scenes  of  a  heathen  celebration  he  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  noting,  also,  how  such  gatherings  of  idolaters  may 
be  improved  in  the  interest  of  mission  work.1 

1"In  the  afternoon,"  wrote  Heyer,  "I  ascended  a  mountain  about  two 
miles  distant,  where  a  large  pagoda  had  been  erected  in  honor  of  Narahsimhadu. 
The  number  of  people  who  gather  at  this  annual  festival  on  this  mountain  is 
said  to  amount  to  20,000.  The  Brahmins  tell  the  people  that  Lakshmi,  one  of 
the  wives  of  Vishnu,  having  become  dissatisfied  with  him  on  account  of  his  in- 
continency,  attempted  to  escape  from  him;  but  being  overtaken  on  this  moun- 
tain a  quarrel  took  place  between  them.  On  one  of  the  rocks  a  stone  surrounded 
by  a  brick  wall  is  shown,  which  is  said  to  contain  the  mark  of  Lackshmi's  footstep, 
made  by  her  stamping  violently  on  the  rock.  But  in  this  case,  as  with  many  of 
the  popish  relics,  the  thing  contradicts  itself,  for  instead  of  an  indentation  in  the 
rock,  the  shape  of  a  large  foot  appears  about  an  inch  and  a  half  above  the  level 
of  the  stone;  and  instead  of  the  under  part  of  the  foot,  the  upper  part  showing 
the  nails  is  represented." 


48       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

Through  an  interpreter  he  preached  his  first  sermon  to  a 
Telugu  congregation  in  Nellore  on  June  12,  1842.  Just  before 
leaving  this  station  and  after  having  witnessed  the  horrible 
practice  of  the  swinging  festival  of  which  he  gave  a  graphic 
description,  he  wrote  these  significant  words:  "You  may 
think  it  must  be  an  easy  thing  to  convince  these  deluded 
people  of  their  folly,  but  .  .  .  they  are  joined  to  their  idols. 
...  I  fear  many  years  will  elapse  before  the  strongholds  of 
the  devil  in  these  regions  can  be  destroyed  and  the  Redeemer's 
Kingdom  be  built  upon  the  ruins  thereof;  unless  professing 
Christians  bestir  themselves  more  in  days  to  come  than  they 
have  done  in  times  past." 

After  having  studied  the  situation  from  Nellore,  as  a 
point  of  vantage,  Heyer  selected  three  towns  as  places  where 
he  might  establish  his  mission,  namely,  Ongole,  eighty  miles 
north  of  Nellore;  Guntur,  seventy  miles  north  of  Ongole; 
and  Ellore,  sixty  miles  north  of  Guntur.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Van 
Husen  accompanied  him  on  his  tour  of  inspection.  They  left 
Nellore  in  July.  "We  came  to  Ongole,"  wrote  Heyer,  "where 
formerly  some  government  officials  with  their  families  had 
resided.  The  bungalows  which  they  had  occupied,  we  found  in 
a  dilapidated  condition;  but  they  might  have  been  repaired 
for  the  accommodation  of  a  missionary.  My  conclusion  was 
that  I  would  settle  down  at  Ongole,  if  the  up-country  did  not 
offer  a  more  favorable  station.  We  went  on  our  way  from 
village  to  village  until  we  reached  Guntur,  July  31,  1842. 
Here  we  met  with  a  very  kind  reception  from  H.  Stokes,  Esq., 
an  ardent  friend  of  missions  and  missionaries,  as  well  as  a 
very  exemplary  Christian  gentleman.  The  inducements 
which  Mr.  Stokes  held  out  and  the  kind  offers  of  assistance 
which  he  made,  were  far  preferable  to  anything  I  could  ex- 
pect at  Ongole.  Hence  I  decided  in  favor  of  Guntur,  and 
after  prayerful  consideration  concluded  to  commence  mission 
operations  forthwith." 

Henry  Stokes,  Esq.,  Collector  of  the  Guntur  District,  had 
long  been  anxious  to  secure  a  resident  missionary  for  Guntur. 
As  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England  he  had  addressed 
several  appeals  to  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  asking  that 


SELECTION    OF    THE    FOREIGN   MISSION    FIELD    IN    INDIA      49 

one  of  its  missionaries  be  stationed  at  Guntur,  but  the  Society 
felt  itself  unable  to  comply.  After  Heyer  had  introduced 
himself  to  the  Collector,  Stokes  inquired  of  The  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society  missionaries  in  the  Telugu  country,  whether  it 
was  the  intention  of  the  Society  to  occupy  Guntur,  and  re- 
ceived a  negative  reply.  Moreover,  The  Church  Missionary 
Society  missionaries  advised  Stokes  to  persuade  Heyer  to  re- 
main in  Guntur.  Therefore  Stokes  offered  Heyer  the  use  of  a 
building  in  his  compound  as  a  dwelling  and,  early  in  September, 
1842,  formally  transferred  to  him  the  English-Telugu  school 
which  for  some  years  had  been  conducted  under  the  patron- 
age of  the  Collectors  and  other  English  residents  in  the  town. 
The  actual  beginning  of  the  Guntur  Mission,  however,  may  be 
fixed  somewhat  earlier  than  the  date  of  the  formal  transfer  of 
the  English-Telugu  school.  The  work  was  really  inaugurated 
on  the  first  Sunday  in  August,  1842,  when  in  the  schoolhouse 
in  the  Collector's  compound  a  service  was  held,  at  which  ser- 
mons were  preached  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Van  Husen  who  had 
accompanied  Heyer  to  Guntur,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Porter  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society,  who  had  stopped  over  on  his 
way  from  Vizagapatam  to  Cuddapah.  Thereafter  Heyer  con- 
ducted a  service  every  Lord's  Day,  preaching  to  the  Telugus 
through  an  interpreter. 

This  is  the  true  story  of  the  selection  of  Guntur  as  the 
American  Evangelical  Lutheran  Mission  field  in  India.  Like 
many  another  story  it  has  been  embellished,  but  the  embel- 
lishments are  fictitious. 

After  having  selected  Guntur  as  the  mission  field,  the 
most  interesting,  not  to  say  the  most  romantic  period  of 
Heyer's  life  began.  Imagine  a  man  nearly  fifty  years  old,  pos- 
sessing a  burning  zeal,  large  experience,  firm  faith  in  God, 
deep  devotion  to  duty,  great  strength  of  purpose  and  inde- 
fatigable activity,  entering  upon  an  entirely  new  and  untried 
sphere  of  labor  in  a  foreign  land  among  a  people  whose  lan- 
guage, mode  of  life,  habits  of  thought,  customs  and  religion 
were  alien  to  him.  A  less  courageous  spirit  would  have 
shrunk  from  the  task.  And  what  was  the  task?  Nothing 
less  than  the  inauguration  of  a  movement  which  should  change 


50       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

the  world  of  the  natives'  ideas  and  ideals — their  conception  of 
the  Supreme  Being  above  them,  of  the  earth  under  their  feet, 
of  their  fellow-men  around  them,  of  life  and  death  and  eter- 
nity; change  them  so  completely,  that  the  transformation 
would  be  a  re-birth  of  souls,  of  lives,  of  communities,  of  tribes, 
of  the  whole  nation.  Heyer's  ministerial  experience  in  Amer- 
ica, rich  and  varied  as  it  had  been,  could  avail  but  little  in  the 
performance  of  the  task  of  christianizing  a  heathen  commun- 
ity. Though  he  was  zealous,  his  zeal  as  a  pioneer  foreign 
missionary  had  to  be  kept  up  at  high  pressure  in  order  to 
prevent  his  spirit  from  flagging.  Though  he  was  vigorous  in 
mind  and  body,  he  needed  to  guard  his  health  with  scrupulous 
care  and  devote  himself  to  his  daily  duties  with  unquestioning 
fidelity  and  unabating  hope,  if  his  single-handed  labor  was  to 
result  in  the  permanent  establishment  of  the  Mission. 

Without  doubt  Heyer  was  chosen  of  God  to  be  the  first 
foreign  missionary  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in 
America;  and  it  was  providential  that  such  a  man  as  Mr. 
Henry  Stokes,  the  highest  official  in  the  district,  a  man  of 
Christian  faith  and  unblemished  life,  noble  self-denial,  unselfish 
liberality  and  ardent  missionary  zeal,  should  have  welcomed 
Heyer  to  Guntur  and  given  to  the  Mission  in  its  infancy  his 
personal  interest  and  most  cordial  support. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE   GUNTUR  MISSION 

RARELY  in  the  history  of  mission  work  has  a  foreign  mis- 
sion had  such  an  auspicious  and  promising  beginning  as  the 
one  which  Heyer  established  in  Guntur.  In  many  cases  pioneer 
missionaries  in  heathen  lands  have  been  obliged  to  pass 
through  a  more  or  less  lengthy  period  of  antecedent  effort, 
meeting  and  overcoming  hostility,  facing  danger  and  death, 
and  even  suffering  martyrdom,  before  the  slightest  indications 
of  success  appeared.  In  the  case  of  the  American  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Mission  in  India  a  certain  amount  of  preparatory 
work  had  been  done  by  the  English  Collectors  and  other 
officials  and  residents  in  Guntur,  before  Heyer  came,  so  that, 
when  he  began  there,  he  found  that  some  soil  had  already 
been  broken  and  prepared  for  the  seed  of  the  Word  of  God. 

Henry  Stokes,  Esq.,  the  good  and  godly  Collector  of  Guntur, 
deserves  to  be  remembered  by  our  American  Lutheran  Church 
with  feelings  of  gratitude  and  expressions  of  esteem,  because 
of  his  staunch  friendship  for  Heyer  and  of  his  liberal  and  con- 
tinued benevolence  in  support  of  the  Mission.  Others  whose 
names  are  mentioned  by  Heyer  as  friends  and  benefactors  are 
Mr.  Newill,  the  first  Assistant  Collector,  Dr.  Evans,  Judge 
Walter,  General  Buckel,  Judge  Wood,  Dr.  Smith,  Captain 
O'Neil,  and  Assistant  Collectors  Hutway  and  Barlow. 

In  his  first  report  to  the  executive  committee  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium,  after  his 
arrival  in  Guntur,  written  September  17,  1842,  five  weeks  after 
the  formal  beginning  of  the  work,1  he  stated  that  he  regularly 
conducted  English  services  every  Sunday  morning  and  every 
Wednesday  evening  for  the  English  officials  and  residents 
and  for  others  in  the  employ  of  the  East  India  Company  or 

1  It  appears  that  Heyer  wrote  a  letter  immediately  after  bis  arrival  in  Gun- 
tur, reporting  his  decision  to  remain  there,  which,  however,  was  lost  in  transit. 

Si 


52       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

otherwise  engaged  in  civil,  military  and  commercial  pursuits. 
The  average  attendance  at  these  services  was  thirty.  At 
the  Sunday  morning  Telugu  services  there  was  an  average 
attendance  of  about  seventy,  most  of  them  being  the  older 
pupils  in  the  school.  Furthermore,  there  assembled  at  his 
door  every  morning,  between  five  and  six  o'clock,  a  motley 
crowd  of  some  seventy  poor,  blind,  lame  and  deformed  objects 
of  charity,  to  whom  the  missionary  dispensed  alms,  amount- 
ing to  $14  or  $15  a  month,  generously  contributed  for  this 
purpose  by  Mr.  Stokes  and  Mr.  Newill.  Heyer  improved 
this  opportunity  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  to  teach  them 
hymns  and  Scripture  passages.  In  a  few  months  a  num- 
ber of  them  had  memorized  a  morning  hymn,  a  number  of 
Scripture  passages,  the  Ten  Commandments  and  the  Lord's 
Prayer. 

Besides  the  English  school  which  had  been  transferred  to 
his  charge  and  which  enrolled  thirty  pupils,  he  at  once 
organized  two  purely  Telugu  schools  in  which  were  enrolled, 
respectively,  twenty-seven  and  thirteen  pupils.  For  the 
school- work  he  employed  four  native  teachers,  all  heathen, 
whose  salaries  amounted  to  about  twenty  dollars  a  month, 
the  greater  part  of  which  was  contributed  by  the  English 
residents  interested  in  the  Mission. 

Soon  after  beginning  the  Mission,  he  took  a  twelve-year-old 
orphan  boy,  named  Kotalingam,  into  his  house,  gave  him 
clothes,  board  and  lodging,  and  taught  him,  hoping  that  he 
might  be  converted  and  become  a  mission  worker.  His  hope, 
however,  was  not  realized.  This  was  the  first  feeble  attempt 
at  a  boarding  school  for  the  training  of  native  workers  in  the 
Mission. 

Strenuous,  indeed,  was  the  daily  round  of  the  mission- 
ary's duties.  After  the  early  morning  meeting  with  the  poor 
at  his  door,  he  conducted,  at  seven  o'clock,  in  the  school- 
room, an  hour  of  devotion  in  the  Tamil  language  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  domestics  of  Mr.  Stokes'  household,  several  of  whom 
were  baptized  Christians.  Of  David,  his  interpreter,  Heyer 
testified  that  he  was  a  man  who  had  really  experienced  the 
power  of  the  Gospel  in  his  soul.  At  eight  o'clock  the  mis- 


THE    FOUNDING    OF    THE    GUNTUR   MISSION  53 

sionary  went  to  the  English  school  and  taught  the  first  class 
for  an  hour.  Between  nine  and  ten  o'clock  he  breakfasted. 
At  ten  the  Telugu  munshi  came  and  four  hours  were  spent 
with  him  in  the  study  of  the  vernacular.  At  three  he  partook 
of  a  light  luncheon  (tiffin).  The  later  afternoon  and  early 
evening  were  spent  in  rest  and  recreation.  Sometimes  he 
would  indulge  in  a  walk  with  his  Telugu  teacher.  At  other 
times  he  would  ride  or  drive  with  one  or  the  other  of  his  Eng- 
lish friends.  At  seven  in  the  evening  he  was  Mr.  Stokes'  guest 
at  dinner.  At  nine  he  conducted  the  family  devotion  for  the 
family  and  guests  of  Mr.  Stokes.  At  ten  o'clock  he  retired. 
It  does  not  surprise  us,  therefore,  to  read  in  one  of  his  letters : 
"I  have  more  to  do  now  than  when  I  had  charge  of  a  pastoral 
district  in  America." 

The  mission  schools,  in  particular,  made  rapid  and  sub- 
stantial progress.  Heyer  was  an  excellent  disciplinarian  and 
a  good  instructor.  By  the  middle  of  October  he  had  estab- 
lished and  was  supervising  six  schools,  enrolling  150  pupils 
and  employing  seven  teachers.  The  two  principal  schools 
were  conducted  in  the  building  in  Mr.  Stokes'  compound,  set 
apart  for  that  purpose.  A  third  was  held  elsewhere  in  the 
town,  Heyer  paying  the  expenses  out  of  his  private  purse. 
The  fourth  was  located  in  Prattipadu,  twelve  miles  south  of 
Guntur.  This  he  called  St.  John's  Lutheran  School,  because 
he  supported  it  with  the  money  that  St.  John's  Sunday  School 
and  Missionary  Society  in  Philadelphia  had  given  him  before 
leaving  America.  The  other  schools  were  located  in  Nallapadu, 
five  miles  west  of  Guntur,  and  in  Kottapetta,  a  suburb  of  the 
town.  These  were  supported  out  of  the  synodical  mission 
funds  at  a  monthly  expense  of  ten  dollars.  All  of  these  schools, 
except  the  original  English  one,  were  purely  Telugu  schools, 
attended  by  children  of  the  low  castes  and  outcasts.  At 
first  a  number  of  Brahmin  boys  came  to  the  Guntur  school 
and  to  the  one  in  Prattipadu ;  but  when  the  parents  realized 
that  the  missionary  aimed,  above  all  things,  to  inculcate  the 
truths  of  Christianity,  they  not  only  withdrew  their  sons  from 
the  schools,  but  also  showed  considerable  hostility  toward  the 
missionary  and  his  work.  In  November,  1842,  Heyer  organ- 


54       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

ized  the  first  Hindu  girls'  school  with  an  enrollment  of  fifteen 
pupils.  For  a  year,  until  the  time  of  her  death,  this  school  was 
supported  by  Mrs.  Walker,  the  wife  of  Judge  Walker,  whom 
Heyer  described  as  a  most  pious  woman.  Desirous  of  secur- 
ing efficient  teachers,  Heyer  selected  five  of  the  more  promis- 
ing pupils  in  the  English-Telugu  school  and  devoted  himself 
to  their  instruction  in  a  normal  class.  By  the  end  of  the  year 
1842,  the  number  of  pupils  in  the  Guntur  schools  had  increased 
to  135,  20  of  whom  were  girls.  The  examination  held  on  the 
last  day  of  that  year  in  the  large  hall  of  Mr.  Stokes'  house 
showed  that,  besides  adding  pupils,  Heyer  had  also  developed 
the  efficiency  of  the  schools.  The  program  rendered  at  this 
public  examination  greatly  pleased  the  audience.  After  an 
opening  prayer  the  children  recited  from  memory,  in  English 
and  in  Telugu,  Psalm  115,  Luke  2:8-20,  and  John  4:21-26. 
Then  a  number  of  hymns  which  had  been  memorized,  were 
sung  in  both  languages.  Catechetical  exercises,  conversation 
and  an  examination  in  geography  were  followed  by  a  distribu- 
tion of  books  and  small  coins. 

Before  the  end  of  the  year  1842,  Heyer  had  begun  a  Sunday 
school  with  the  children  who  attended  the  daily  instruction, 
and  had  instituted  weekly  meetings  in  his  house  with  h«s 
teachers,  in  order  to  increase  their  efficiency  and,  if  possible, 
to  win  them  for  Christianity.  He  also  began  the  erection  of  a 
small  building  in  Mr.  Stokes'  compound  to  be  used  as  a 
school-house,  finishing  it  at  a  total  cost  of  $15.  This  little 
school-house,  built  at  the  expense  of  the  Missionary  Society 
of  St.  John's  Church,  Philadelphia,  was  opened  and  occupied 
January  4,  1843.  "For  the  friends  of  the  mission  in  America," 
wrote  Heyer,  "this  day  would  have  been  a  high  day  had  they 
been  able  to  attend  the  exercises;  and  January  4,  1843,  may 
well  be  regarded  as  the  day  of  the  actual  beginning  of  the 
American  Evangelical  Lutheran  Mission  hi  Guntur." 

For  the  first  nine  months  of  the  year  1843  no  letter  or 
report  was  received  from  Heyer,  insomuch  that  the  Executive 
Committee,  supposing  that  he  had  neglected  to  write,  felt  con- 
strained at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  missionary  society  in 
June,  1844,  to  recommend  that  he  be  directed  to  report  more 


THE    FOUNDING    OF    THE    GUNTUR   MISSION  55 

frequently  and  to  submit  a  copy  of  his  journal  every  six  weeks 
or  every  three  months.1  That  the  mission  work  had  made 
substantial  progress  during  this  period  appears  from  a  letter 
dated  October  16,  1843,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  mis- 
sionary's first  annual  report.  The  actual  result  should 
by  no  means  be  judged  by  the  number  of  converts,  for  these 
never  are  numerous  during  the  first  years  of  a  mission. 
Indeed,  many  decades  frequently  elapse  in  a  foreign  mission 
before  converts  may  be  numbered  by  the  hundred  each  year. 
Had  Heyer  been  able  to  report  only  a  single  convert  for  the 
first  year,  it  would  have  been  sufficient  to  call  for  further  effort. 
As  it  was,  he  reported  three  adults  instructed  and  baptized, 
who,  together  with  two  Tamil  Christians  employed  in  Mr. 
Stokes'  household,  had  received  the  Lord's  Supper.  The 
most  encouraging  feature  of  the  first  year's  work  was  the  prog- 
ress of  the  mission  schools.  Their  number  had  risen  to  seven, 
employing  ten  teachers  and  assistants  and  enrolling  158  boys 
and  22  girls.  In  the  English  school  grammar,  geography, 
history  and  a  Scripture  catechism  of  proof  passages  had  been 
added  to  the  curriculum.  The  regular  Sunday  morning 
English  service  was  attended  by  an  average  of  thirty  persons. 
The  attendance  at  the  Telugu  service  on  Sunday  had  in- 
creased to  nearly  two  hundred.  Heyer's  account  of  the  expen- 
ditures of  the  first  year  exhibits  both  the  liberality  of  the 
Guntur  benefactors  and  the  meagre  support  of  the  Missionary 
Society : 

English  and  Telugu  books  and  tracts,  paid  by  Judge  Walker  Rs.  350 

Books,  paid  by  Mr.  Stokes Rs.  225 

Books,  on  account  of  Dr.  Mayer's  congregation,  Phila- 
delphia  Rs.      50 

Munshi,  books,  etc.,  paid  by  the  Missionary  Society Rs.  129 

School-teachers  paid  by  Guntur  friends Rs.  516 

Teachers,  paid  by  Dr.  Mayer's  congregation Rs.  200 

Alms  distributed,  paid  by  Guntur  friends Rs.  350 

Articles  of  clothing,  paid  by  Guntur  friends Rs.  1 20 

School-house,  built  at  expense  of  Dr.  Mayer's  congregation .  Rs.      30 

Total Rs.  1970     $985.00* 

Missionary's  salary,  paid  by  Missionary  Society 600.00 

Total  expenditure $1585.00 

1  It  seems  that  Heyer  did  write  several  letters  during  the  period  in  question, 
but  that  they  were  lost  on  the  way  to  America. 

2  Heyer  estimated  a  rupee  to  be  equal  in  value  to  50  cents. 


56       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

It  is  unfortunate  that  Heyer  failed  to  give  an  itemized 
account  of  his  income  for  the  first  year.  We  know  that  when 
he  left  America  he  took  with  him  $705.40  of  the  synodical 
missionary  society's  money  and  $60  that  had  been  given  him 
by  the  Juvenile  Missionary  Society  of  St.  John's  Church  in 
Philadelphia  for  the  establishment  and  support  of  schools. 
His  travelling  expenses  to  India  amounted  to  about  $300. 
It  appears  that  the  treasurer  of  the  synodical  missionary 
society  sent  him,  some  time  during  the  first  year,  the  balance 
due  on  his  salary  and  a  little,  a  very  little,  more,  forwarding 
also  about  $100  contributed  by  St.  John's  Church  in  Phila- 
delphia. It  is  evident  from  the  expense  account,  given  above, 
that  the  chief  sources  of  income  for  the  current  mission  ex- 
penses were  the  gifts  of  the  Guntur  friends  who  are  credited 
as  having  paid  $780  (Rs.  1561)  of  a  total  expenditure  of  $985 
(Rs.  1970).  St.  John's  Church  in  Philadelphia  is  credited  with 
$140  (Rs.  280)  and  the  synodical  missionary  society  with  $68 
(Rs.  129),  apart  from  the  missionary's  salary.  Including  the 
salary  the  Guntur  friends  paid  $112  more  than  the  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Ministerium  for  the  work  of  the  latter's  mission. 

In  a  letter  dated  September  n,  1842,  Heyer  acknowl- 
edged the  receipt  of  $500  sent  by  the  missionary  society  of  the 
Synod  of  South  Carolina  through  the  treasurer  of  the  General 
Synod,  the  Rev.  Isaac  Baugher.  It  was  intended  for  the  pur- 
chase of  a  printing-press  but  was  subsequently  used  for  another 
purpose.  Meanwhile  Heyer  kept  it  on  deposit  with  Mr.  Van 
Somering  in  Madras.  The  regular  bankers  of  the  mission 
funds  from  the  very  beginning,  however,  were  Arbuthnot 
and  Co.,  in  Madras. 

In  the  list  of  the  Mission's  early  benefactors  the  American 
Bible  Society  and  the  Madras  Auxiliary  Society  should  not  be 
omitted.  The  latter  sent  Heyer,  during  .the  first  year,  800 
copies  of  the  Gospels,  Genesis  and  the  Psalms  separately 
bound,  500  in  Telugu  and  300  in  Tamil.  The  former  promised 
to  furnish  the  mission  with  Telugu  Testaments  as  soon  as 
they  should  have  been  printed.  Not  only  did  Heyer  himself 
liberally  distribute  these  books,  but  he  also  engaged  a  colpor- 
teur at  a  monthly  salary  of  $2.50. 


THE    FOUNDING    OF    THE    GUNTUR   MISSION  57 

In  what  we  have  termed  his  first  annual  report,  he  wrote 
an  appeal  for  funds  to  print  Luther's  Small  Catechism  in 
Telugu  and  made  the  important  announcement  that  a  lot  of 
ground  containing  two  acres  had  been  secured  for  an  annual 
ground-rent  of  $1.25,  on  which  he  was  commencing  the  erec- 
tion of  a  brick  building  which  was  planned  for  use  as  a  chapel, 
schoolhouse  and  missionary's  dwelling. 

The  lack  of  proper  support  from  America  for  the  growing 
mission  work  added  a  note  of  anxiety  to  some  of  Heyer's 
earliest  expressions  of  joy  and  hope;  and  in  later  letters 
this  note  sank  to  one  of  keen  disappointment.  He  realized 
that  the  liberality  of  the  Guntur  friends  could  not  continue 
indefinitely,  because  the  English  officials  were  frequently  trans- 
ferred from  place  to  place;  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  say  that 
unless  the  support  sent  from  America  would  be  considerably 
increased,  the  Mission  must,  at  some  time,  be  abandoned.  As 
early  as  October,  1842,  less  than  three  months  after  his  arrival 
in  Guntur,  he  wrote:  "In  case  the  Church  in  America  is  not 
willing  to  do  more  than  pay  the  salary  of  the  missionary,  I 
cannot  remain  in  Guntur."  Again,  in  December  of  the  same 
year,  he  said,  "There  should  be  a  draft  already  on  the  way  to 
India.  I  have  only  a  small  balance  remaining  of  the  synodical 
society's  money.  You  can  easily  imagine  how  uncomfortable 
my  position  would  be  in  a  strange  land  without  money.  In 
case  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America  is  not  willing  to  support 
this  mission  properly,  you  must  notify  me  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  recall  me."  A  month  later,  though  expressing  his  joy  in 
the  work  of  a  foreign  missionary  and  his  sincere  gratitude  for 
the  friendship  and  support  of  Mr.  Stokes,  he  intimated  that  the 
meagre  support  from  America  caused  him  to  feel  uncomfort- 
able, for  he  wrote:  "It  seems  wrong  and  unjust  that  the 
American  Lutheran  Mission  should  depend  so  much  for  support 
on  a  member  of  another  ecclesiastical  body. "  Several  times 
he  suggested  that  attempts  should  be  made  to  enlist  the 
co-operation  of  missionary  societies  in  Germany.  Once  he 
mentioned  as  possible  contributors  the  Breslau  and  Koenigs- 
berg  societies,  which  had  formerly  helped  to  support  Rhenius. 
Later  he  drew  attention  to  the  North  German  Society  which 


58       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

contemplated  a  mission  among  the  Telugus.  What  he  urged 
especially,  however,  was  a  union  of  the  whole  Lutheran 
Church  in  America  in  behalf  of  the  Guntur  Mission,  suggest- 
ing that  the  General  Synod's  Missionary  Society,  as  well  as  the 
Pennsylvania  Ministerium's  Society,  each  might  support  its 
own  missionary  or  missionaries,  subject  to  its  own  control.  He 
proposed  a  division  of  the  expense  connected  with  the  main- 
tenance of  schools  and  the  erection  of  buildings.  In  January, 
1843,  he  elaborated  this  plan,  estimating  that  it  would  cost 
between  $1000  and  $1500  to  build  a  mission  house,  $600  a 
year  to  support  each  missionary,  several  hundred  dollars  for 
the  salaries  of  native  teachers  and  about  $2000  for  the  other 
mission  expenses.  This  plan  was  actually  adopted  when  the 
General  Synod  sent  out  its  first  missionary,  but  it  soon  proved 
to  be  impracticable. 

During  the  closing  months  of  1843  and  the  opening  ones  of 
1844  the  Mission  continued  to  make  commendable  progress. 
On  January  i5th  of  the  latter  year  Heyer  baptized  three  per- 
sons, a  man,  a  woman  and  a  child,  Isaac,  Ruth  and  Prakasam, 
making  six  baptisms  in  all  since  the  beginning. 

Meanwhile  events  transpiring  in  America  had  already 
started  another  Lutheran  missionary,  the  second  from  America, 
the  Rev.  Walter  Gunn,  on  his  way  to  Guntur. 


CHAPTER  VI 

HOW  THE  GENERAL  SYNOD  GAINED  CONTROL  OF  THE  GUNTUR 

MISSION 

WHILE  Heyer  was  establishing  the  Mission  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Ministerium  at  Guntur,  affairs  in  America  were  rapidly 
drifting  toward  its  possession  and  control  by  the  General 
Synod. 

On  the  eve  of  his  departure  from  America,  Heyer  had 
offered  to  report  regularly  to  the  General  Synod's  missionary- 
society  and  to  consider  himself  partly  in  its  employ,  provided 
it  annually  contributed  $200  toward  his  salary.  He  un- 
doubtedly made  this  offer  with  the  consent  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  missionary  society  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Ministerium  and  not  without  some  hope  that,  even  though  he 
had  declined  to  be  the  General  Synod's  missionary,  its  mis- 
sionary society  would  co-operate  with  that  of  the  Minister- 
ium. There  was  sufficient  reason  for  this  hope,  for  at  the 
same  meeting  of  the  General  Synod's  Society,  to  which  Heyer 
sent  his  resignation,  an  amendment  was  offered  to  strike  out 
that  article  of  the  constitution  which  bound  the  society  to 
"the  most  perfect  harmony  and  co-operation  with  the  Ameri- 
can Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions."  Before 
the  next  biennial  meeting  of  the  General  Synod  and  its  mis- 
sionary society,  in  1843,  tne  letters  of  Heyer,  published  in 
"The  Lutheran  Observer,"  as  well  as  the  "Kirchenzeitung," 
reporting  his  successful  beginning  in  Guntur,  had  materially 
strengthened  the  position  of  those  in  the  General  Synod  who 
desired  co-operation  with  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  in 
foreign  mission  work.1  The  proposed  amendment  to  its  con- 

1  In  an  official  letter  from  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Morris,  D.  D.,  corresponding 
secretary  of  the  General  Synod's  missionary  society,  the  society  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Ministerium  was  informed  at  its  annual  meeting  in  May,  1842,  that 
the  former  society  felt  inclined  to  co-operate  with  the  latter  but  regretted  that 
its  constitution  forbade  it  and  hoped  that  the  barrier  would  be  removed.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  society  of  the  Ministerium  in  Philadelphia,  1843,  a  plan  of  co- 

59 


60       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

stitution  was  adopted  by  the  General  Synod's  society  at  its 
meeting  May  25,  1843.  The  barrier  of  this  co-operation  hav- 
ing been  removed,  the  society  at  once  elected  a  missionary 
to  labor  in  conjunction  with  Heyer  in  Gontur.1 

Walter  Gunn,  the  missionary  elected,  was  born  June  27, 
1815,  in  Carlisle,  Schoharie  County,  N.  Y.  The  manner 
in  which  he  was  led  to  enter  the  holy  ministry  and  become  a 
foreign  missionary  has  been  described  as  follows:2  "The 
starting  point  of  our  (the  General  Synod's)  foreign  mission 
was  in  Cobleskill,  Schoharie  County,  N.  Y.,  in  the  year  1837. 
At  the  house  of  Colonel  Schaeffer,  about  half  a  mile  east 
of  the  old  brick  church,  then  occupied  by  the  sessions  of  the 

operation  with  the  General  Synod's  society,  prepared  by  the  Rev.  H.  N.  Pohl- 
man  of  the  latter  society  and  proposed  by  a  joint  committee  of  the  respective 
executive  committees,  was  adopted.  It  embraced  the  following  articles  of 
agreement: 

"The  Evangelical  Lutheran  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  deeming  it  im- 
portant that  the  efforts  of  the  friends  of  foreign  missions  in  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  this  country  should  be  more  fully  concentrated,  proposes  to  form  a 
connection  with  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Pennsylvania  Synod  upon  the 
following  general  principles: 

"i.  Each  society  shall,  for  the  present,  remain  separate  and  distinct  under 
its  own  peculiar  organization,  care  being  taken,  however,  to  promote  in  their 
several  spheres  of  action  the  utmost  harmony  and  love. 

"2.  Each  society  shall  have  the  nomination  and  appointment  of  its  own 
missionaries  and  shall  provide  for  their  embarkation,  settlement  and  support; 
each  taking  upon  itself  the  whole  management  of  all  the  agencies  for  collecting 
funds  for  this  purpose. 

"3.  Both  societies  shall  occupy  the  same  field  of  labor  in  the  heathen  world 
and  whatever  differences  of  opinion  there  may  be  at  home,  shall  endeavor,  as 
far  as  is  consistent  with  the  imperfection  of  human  nature,  to  have  but  one 
interest  and  one  aim  in  the  foreign  field. 

"4.  The  missionaries  of  each  society  shall  labor  together  and  under  the 
direction  of  the  several  executive  committees,  mutually  adopt  such  plans  for 
the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel  and  the  upbuilding  of  the  Redeemer's  Kingdom 
by  the  establishment  of  schools,  catechetical  lectures  and  preaching  and  the  dis- 
tribution of  Bibles  and  tracts,  as  shall  seem  to  be  advisable,  and  shall  report 
jointly  to  the  secretaries  of  both  societies. 

"5.  This  joint  mission  shall  hereafter  be  known  as  the  American  Lutheran 
Mission. 

"6.  There  shall  be  an  interchange  of  one  or  more  commissioners  at  each 
yearly  meeting  of  the  several  societies  for  mutual  consultation,  prayer  and 
effort  in  relation  to  the  interest  of  the  joint  mission." 

Unique,  amicable,  yet  clearly  impracticable,  this  plan  never  went  into 
effect.  The  General  Synod's  society  ratified  the  agreement  May  16,  1845,  at 
its  meeting  in  Philadelphia,  but  before  it  could  be  put  to  a  practical  test  that 
society  had  gained  complete  control  of  the  Guntur  Mission. 

1  The  missionary's  salary  was  fixed  at  $600  a  year. 

2  By  the  Rev.  J.  Z.  Senderling,  corresponding  secretary  of  the  General 
Synod's  missionary  society  and  pastor  at  Johnstown,  N.  Y. 


30  si,  ajfcjSe   1907. 


Jfc 


*-,  #3bSo  Sd&S'*  w&^SnoOS  8"*) 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  A  TELUGU  LETTER 


A  HINDU  TEMPLE  IN   RAJAHMUNDRY 


A  TELUGU  BARHER  AT  \\ORK 


TELUGU    WOMAN    GRINDING    GRAIN 

The  top  stone  revolves  on  the  lower  and  larger   one,  and  the  grain   is   ground 

between    them. 


HOW    GENERAL    SYNOD    GAINED    CONTROL    OF    GUNTUR       6 1 

Hartwick  Synod,  four  ladies  conferred  with  each  other  respect- 
ing the  importance  of  doing  something  for  God  and  His 
Church.  One  of  them  was  the  lady  of  the  house,  an  elderly 
sister  of  said  church;  the  other  three  were  wives  of  clergy- 
men, members  of  the  synod.  A  proposition  was  offered  by 
one  of  the  latter,  saying,  'Let  us  do  something  that  will  cheer 
the  hearts  of  our  ministers  during  these  troublous  times.' 
Two  prayers  were  offered  to  the  throne  of  grace,  not  without 
many  tears,  when  the  subject  of  educating  young  men  with 
the  view  to  labor  among  the  heathen,  was  discussed.  The 
young  man  subsequently  selected  and  destined  for  the  foreign 
field  was  Walter  Gunn,  a  pious  and  active  member  of  Dr. 
Lintner's  church  hi  Schoharie,  N.  Y.  This  was  the  first 
actual  move  toward  the  founding  of  our  foreign  mission." 

After  having  studied  for  a  while  in  Schenectady,  N.  Y., 
and  in  Hartwick  Seminary,  Gunn  entered  the  Theological 
Seminary  in  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  from  which  he  was  graduated 
in  1843.  He  was  licensed  by  the  Hartwick  synod  and  then 
appointed  as  the  General  Synod's  first  foreign  missionary. 
Sometime  during  the  summer  of  1843  ne  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Lorena  Pults,  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  church  in 
Ghent,  N.  Y. 

During  the  months  intervening  between  his  appointment 
and  his  departure  from  America,  Gunn  devoted  himself  to 
deputation  work,  delivering  mission  addresses  and  gathering 
offerings  for  the  India  Mission.  He  delivered  fifty-six  mission 
addresses  in  forty-four  different  places  in  Pennsylvania,  New 
Jersey  and  Maryland,  arousing  considerable  interest  in  the 
foreign  mission  work  of  the  General  Synod,  but  also  meeting 
some  opposition  and  no  little  indifference.  "The  report  was 
scattered  in  one  community,"  wrote  Gunn,  "that  my  wife  and 
I  were  going  to  India  to  set  up  a  store  and  sell  the  things 
that  were  furnished  as  an  outfit."  "Others  supposed  that  we 
could  have  no  other  object  in  view  than  to  go  out  and  travel 
and  see  the  country;  and  others,  again,  declared  positively 
that  they  knew  we  should  never  go  so  far,  many  thousand 
miles  away,  among  the  heathen,  concluding  that  money  con- 
tributed for  our  support  was  thrown  away." 


62       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

At  the  public  service  held  in  connection  with  the  meeting 
of  the  East  Pennsylvania  Synod  in  October,  1843,  the  Rev. 
Walter  Gimn  was  solemnly  commissioned  as  a  foreign  mis- 
sionary, the  Rev.  Dr.  Benjamin  Kurtz,  chairman  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  General  Synod's  missionary  society,  de- 
livering the  charge  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  G.  Morris,  correspond- 
ing secretary,  reading  the  instructions  of  the  committee  to 
its  missionary.  In  his  response  Gunn,  among  other  things, 
said:  "If  it  is  our  duty  to  go  to  the  heathen  land,  it  is  yours 
to  uphold  us  there.  You  give  your  money,  we  give  more: 
we  give  our  lives."  In  his  case  these  words  were  literally 
fulfilled. 

November  18,  1843,  the  Rev.  Walter  Gunn  and  wife  sailed 
from  Boston  hi  the  "Charles,"  a  sailing  vessel  bound  for  Cal- 
cutta. The  journey,  a  circuitous  and  expensive  one,  lasted 
exactly  seven  months,  all  but  the  last  short  stage  from  Masuli- 
patam  to  Guntur  being  by  sea.  After  a  brief  stay  in  Maul- 
main,  Burma,  they  proceeded  to  Calcutta,  where  seven  days 
were  spent  in  the  midst  of  a  fearful  outbreak  of  cholera.1 
Although  the  plague  was  not  permitted  to  harm  them,  they 
found  the  heat  very  trying.  From  Calcutta  to  Madras  and 
again  from  Madras  to  Masulipatam,  sailing  in  uncomfortable 
coasting  vessels,  they  endured  no  little  discomfort.  On  reach- 
ing Masulipatam  they  found  awaiting  them  a  palankeen  and 
bearers,  and  a  bullock-cart  for  their  baggage,  sent  by  Mr. 
Stokes.2 

Joy  filled  the  heart  of  the  pioneer  as  he  grasped  the  hand 
of  his  first  colaborer  and  welcomed  him  at  Guntur,  June  18, 
1 844 .  Heyer  rejoiced  not  o  nly  because  a  ' '  Timothy  "had  been 
sent  to  him,  but  also  because  the  second  missionary  was  the 
visible  evidence  of  the  active  co-operation  of  the  General 
Synod  with  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  in  the  Guntur 
Mission,  for  which  he  had  devoutly  prayed  to  God  and  had 
earnestly  pleaded  with  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America. 

1  Gunn  reported  that  28,000  died  of  the  plague  in  two  months. 

*  Gunn  had  written  to  Heyer  from  Calcutta,  received  an  answer  in  Madras 
and  from  that  city  had  notified  Heyer  of  his  intended  arrival  in  Masulipatam. 
At  every  stage  in  the  early  history  of  the  mission  we  note  evidences  of  Mr. 
Stokes'  liberal  interest. 


HOW  GENERAL  SYNOD  GAINED  CONTROL  OF  GUNTUR   63 

For  a  week,  until  they  were  able  to  rent  and  occupy  a 
bungalow,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gunn  and  his  wife  were  the  guests  of 
Mr.  Stokes,  concerning  whose  Christian  character  and  good 
works  Mr.  Gunn  had  occasion  frequently  to  speak  in  laud- 
atory terms.  They  found  in  Guntur  a  more  pleasant  place  of 
residence  than  they  had  anticipated  after  their  experiences  in 
Calcutta  and  Madras.1 

Gunn  immediately  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  Telugu, 
meanwhile  teaching  English  to  a  class  of  a  dozen  Hindu  boys, 
conducting  a  Bible  study  class,  attended  by  English  residents, 
and  occasionally  preaching  at  the  English  services  on  Sunday. 
Soon  after  their  arrival  Mrs.  Gunn  began  to  teach  English 
and  needle-work  to  a  small  class  of  Hindu  girls.  November 
6th  Gunn  made  his  first  attempt  through  an  interpreter  to 
deliver  a  sermon  to  a  purely  heathen  audience  of  about  sixty 
persons  who  had  gathered  around  him  in  one  of  the  streets 
of  Guntur.  He  described  his  experience  in  the  following 
words:  "Some  of  this  strange  audience  was  entirely  naked, 
most  of  the  others  wore  only  a  strip  of  cloth  about  their  loins 
and  another  about  their  heads.  A  few  had  an  additional 
covering  thrown  over  their  shoulders.  Several  women  stood 
off  at  a  short  distance  with  their  large  chatties  (water-pots) 
on  their  heads  and  listened  to  what  I  had  to  say.  My  address 
was  short,  for  I  perceived  from  the  movements  of  the  people 
that  there  was  a  disposition  among  them  to  become  turbulent; 
and  I  passed  through  the  group  and  went  quietly  to  my  home, 
thankful  that  I  had  had  an  opportunity  of  spreading  a  few  of 
the  truths  of  God's  Word  before  the  minds  of  the  benighted. 
They  seemed  offended  at  the  idea  of  being  saved  through 
the  merits  of  another.  Poor,  deluded  men,  though  immersed 
in  guilt,  they  hope  to  be  saved  through  their  numerous  wash- 
ings, fastings  and  pilgrimages;  and  the  doctrine  which  strikes 
at  the  root  of  their  system  of  salvation  by  works  is  rejected  by 
them  with  scorn." 

About  February  i,   1845,  Gunn  took  charge  of  a  small 

1  Gunn  described  Guntur  as  a  city  of  about  16,000  inhabitants,  among 
whom  were  about  3000  Mohammedans,  situated  in  a  fertile  plain,  thirty 
miles  in  a  direct  line  from  the  sea,  whence  cool  breezes  reached  it  during 
a  portion  of  each  day. 


64       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

Telugu  school  in  East  Guntur,  where  he  also  preached  at 
times  with  the  help  of  an  interpreter.  While  he  thus  was 
getting  acquainted  with  the  work  of  the  Mission,  Heyer  con- 
tinued to  labor  with  his  usual  vigor  and  with  no  little  success. 
The  day  of  the  consecration  of  the  first  mission-house,  built  on 
the  lot  that  had  been  leased  from  the  government,  was  a  mem- 
orable one  in  Heyer's  first  term  of  mission  service.  On 
June  30,  1844,  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning  about  200 
persons  assembled  in  the  new  brick  building  for  the  conse- 
cration service.  Heyer  and  Gunn  delivered  appropriate  ad- 
dresses and  Valett  preached  the  consecration  sermon.  The 
entire  cost  of  construction,  about  $800,  was  contributed  by 
the  South  Carolina  Synod's  Missionary  Society,  which  had  not 
only  permitted  the  use  of  the  $500,  originally  intended  for 
a  printing-press,  for  this  purpose,  but  also  added  what  was 
necessary  to  finish  the  building.  The  Guntur  schools,  enroll- 
ing 90  boys  and  25  girls,  were  moved  into  the  mission  house 
which  on  Sunday  was  used  for  church  purposes,  and  Heyer 
occupied  a  part  of  the  building  as  his  dwelling.  Considerable 
surprise  was  expressed  in  other  missions  at  the  flourishing 
condition  of  the  Guntur  girls'  school.1  Heyer  had  started 
this  school  in  November,  1842,  with  fifteen  girls  taught  by  a 
young  Hindu  under  his  supervision.  A  year  afterward  its 
supporter,  Mrs.  Walker  of  Guntur,  died,  and  the  question  of 
its  continuation  became  a  matter  of  grave  concern  to  Heyer. 
Then,  directed  by  a  special  Providence,  a  letter  reached  Heyer 
December  2,  1843,  containing  $60,  which  had  been  sent  from 
America  nine  months  previously.  It  had  been  written  by  Miss 
S.  M.  Stoever,  the  secretary  of  the  missionary  society  of  the 
infant  department  of  the  Sunday  School  of  St.  Matthew's 
Church  in  Philadelphia,  the  Rev.  T.  Stork  pastor,  and  con- 
tained an  offer  to  support  the  girls'  school.  In  his  letter  of 
grateful  acknowledgment  Heyer  described  the  school  as  one 
which  had  an  enrollment  of  twenty-one  girls,  from  four  to 

1  A  successful  Hindu  girls'  school  was  a  unique  institution  before  the  year 
1840.  The  sacred  books  (Shastras)  forbid  the  education  of  women,  and  they 
themselves  consider  it  a  disgrace  to  be  educated.  Only  temple  (nautch)  girls 
are  educated.  Despite  the  efforts  of  Protestant  Christianity  this  is  still  the 
prevailing  condition  among  Hindus. 


HOW  GENERAL  SYNOD  GAINED  CONTROL  OF  GUNTUR   65 

twelve  years  of  age,  four  of  whom  were  children  of  native 
Christian  parents,  three  Romanists,  two  Mohammedans  and 
the  rest  Hindus.  Some  of  the  pupils  who  had  been  entirely 
ignorant  when  the  school  was  begun,  had  learned  to  read;  all 
of  them  were  attending  divine  worship  on  Sunday  and  had 
committed  a  number  of  Christian  hymns.  In  honor  of  its 
patron  in  America  this  first  girls'  school  was  called  St.  Mat- 
thew's Evangelical  Lutheran  School.  In  July,  1844,  it  was 
placed  in  charge  of  Mrs.  Gunn. 

The  boys'  schools  in  Guntur  continued  to  prosper  during 
the  years  1844  and  1845,  Heyer  reporting  an  average  attend- 
ance of  100;  but  during  this  period  the  school  inPrattipadu 
and  one  in  the  vicinity  of  Guntur  were  discontinued.1 

The  American  Bible  and  Tract  Societies,  in  1843,  con- 
tributed Bibles  to  the  value  of  $200,  and  thereafter  con- 
tinued to  supply  the  missionaries  with  Bibles  and  tracts  as 
they  were  needed.  The  Madras  Auxiliary  Society  likewise 
furnished  a  considerable  number  of  Testaments  and  tracts, 
free  of  cost,  to  the  mission.2 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  1844,  five  Lutheran  mission- 
aries lived  in  Guntur.  Besides  Heyer  and  Gunn,  there  were 
Valett  of  the  North  German  Missionary  Society,  who  had  not 
yet  decided  on  a  mission  field,  and  two  missionaries  of  the 
Dresden  (Leipsic)  Society,  the  Revs.  Ochs  and  Schwartz, 
who  had  been  sent  from  Tranquebar  to  select  a  Telugu  field 
near  Guntur.  The  presence  of  so  many  Lutheran  missionaries 
at  one  point  in  the  Telugu  country  revived  the  thought  of  a 
printing  establishment.  In  July,  1844,  Mr.  Stokes  offered  to 
set  apart  Rs.  500  for  this  purpose  on  condition  that  a  like  sum 
should  be  raised  hi  America.  An  appeal  was  published  in 
America;  but  before  a  sufficient  sum  could  be  raised  the 
Dresden  missionaries  had  returned  to  Tranquebar  without 
establishing  a  Telugu  mission,  and  Heyer  had  started  on  his 

1  The  money  contributed  by  St.  John's  Church  in  Philadelphia  was  used 
for  the  support  of  a  Telugu  school  in  Guntur  after  the  one  in  Prattipadu  was 
discontinued. 

2  Heyer's  and  Gunn's  letters  show  that  they  were  very  liberal  in  the  free 
distribution  of  Bibles,  Testaments  and  tracts.     Experience  has  taught  mis- 
sionaries prudence  rather  than  liberality  in  this  direction. 


66       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

return  voyage  to  the  United  States.     The  enterprise  was, 
therefore,  again  abandoned. 

The  second  annual  report  of  the  Guntur  Mission  written 
by  Heyer,  September  16,  1844,  showed  commendable  prog- 
ress. Besides  three  children,  one  of  whom  was  Luther,  the 
infant  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter  Gunn,  Heyer  had  bap- 
tized seven  Hindus  of  adult  age,  after  having  carefully  in- 
structed them.  The  number  of  communicants  was  twelve, 
four  of  whom  were  converts.  The  other  baptized  converts 
were  not  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  because,  as  Heyer 
puts  it,  "we  do  not  deem  it  advisable  to  administer  the  Lord's 
Supper  immediately  to  all  who  have  been  baptized."  Two 
marriages  were  solemnized.  The  number  of  funerals  con- 
ducted was  four,  one  for  an  adult  Hindu  Christian  and  three 
for  children,  two  of  whom  had  died  unbaptized.  Four  schools, 
one  English  and  three  Telugu,  with  an  enrollment  of  over  100 
pupils,  were  being  conducted  in  the  Guntur  mission  house. 
Of  the  three  Telugu  schools,  the  one  for  girls  then  enrolled  25 
pupils.  The  daily  instruction  in  each  school  was  begun  and 
ended  with  devotional  and  catechetical  exercises.  Concern- 
ing the  English  school,  apparently  Heyer's  pride,  he  wrote  at 
some  length  in  April,  1845,  describing  it  as  a  school  of  three 
grades,  in  the  first  of  which,  consisting  of  fourteen  pupils,  be- 
sides arithmetic,  geography  and  grammar,  Biblical  History 
was  being  taught.  Of  the  fourteen  pupils,  three  were  Moham- 
medans, one  a  Rajput,  nine  Sudras  and  one  a  pariah,  a 
strange  and  uncommon  mingling  of  castes  for  those  days. 
Besides  the  Guntur  schools,  two  others  were  maintained  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  city.  For  one  of  these,  situated  a  mile 
from  Guntur  in  a  village  bordering  on  Old  Guntur,  a  school- 
house  costing  Rs.  200  was  built  and  opened  April  7,  1845.  On 
Sunday,  May  18,  1845,  eleven  persons,  seven  of  whom  were 
adults,  were  baptized;  and  early  in  July  of  the  same  year  a 
young  man  from  Devalapilli,  18  miles  north  of  Guntur,  was 
baptized,  thus  raising  the  number  of  baptisms  since  the  begin- 
ning to  eighteen  adults  and  six  children.  This  was  probably 
the  total  number  of  baptisms  by  Heyer,  .there  being  no  record 
of  additional  ones  during  his  last  months  in  India.  Although 


HOW  GENERAL  SYNOD  GAINED  CONTROL  OF  GUNTUR   67 


this  number  is  not  large,  it  is  not  strange  that  Heyer  did  not 
baptize  more.  It  must  be  remembered  that  he  was  beginning 
a  foreign  mission,  and  many  a  foreign  mission  has  begun 
with  fewer  conversions  during  its  first  two  years.  Further- 
more, Heyer  had  time  to  learn  scarcely  more  than  the  rudi- 
ments of  Telugu,  so  that  he  seldom,  if  ever,  preached  in  the 
vernacular.  To  preach  through  an  interpreter  is  to  fail  to 
make  that  direct  and  personal  impression  on  one's  hearers, 
which  is  so  essential  to  successful  missionary  work.  Heyer's 
chief  strength  lay  in  the  conduct  and  control  of  schools,  in 
which  he  achieved  acknowledged  success.1 

The  support  which  Heyer  received  from  the  Church  in 
America  continued  to  be  meagre  and  inadequate.  From  the 
treasurer  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Pennsylvania  Min- 
isterium,  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Baker,  D.  D.,  he  received  his  salary, 
$600  a  year,  and  two  or  three  hundred  dollars  a  year  in  ad- 
dition for  school  work.2  From  friends  in  Guntur  he  received 
$1164  (Rs.  2910)  up  to  September  16,  1844.  From  sources 
in  America  outside  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  he  oc- 
casionally received  small  sums  of  money.  His  total  income 
from  all  sources  for  all  purposes  varied  between  $1000  and 
$1500  a  year  for  the  first  five  years  of  the  Mission. 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  despite  its  meagre  in- 
come for  foreign  missions,  the  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Ministerium  spent  the  larger  portion  of  its 
funds  for  the  Guntur  Mission.  The  following  is  an  exhibit  of 
the  society's  finances: 


DURING  THE  SYNODICAL  YEAR 

1841-42 

1842-43 

1843-44 

1844-45 

1845-46 

Income  from  all  sources  

$1613.13 
I457-I5 

$1499.61 
1164.43 

$1854.65 
1612.05 

$i577-05 
1048.50 

$1910.96 
1105.09 

Expenditures  for  all  purposes.. 

Receipts  for  Foreign  Missions 
Expended  for  Guntur  Mission 

25.00 
705  -,40 

73-5° 
800.00 

580.39 
900.00 

275-48 
goo.oo3 

3I4-25 
900.00* 

1  In  a  letter  dated  November  16,  1844,  Gunn  wrote:   "Brother  Heyer  is  ac- 
knowledged by  all  around  to  have  an  admirable  faculty  of  managing  schools 
and  advancing  the  scholars  in  their  studies." 

2  In  1843  Heyer  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  $800,  and  in  1844,  $000  from 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Baker. 

1  Approximate  sum. 


68       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

While  Heyer  in  India  was  growing  discouraged  because 
of  the  insufficient  support  from  America,  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Missionary  Society  felt  that  too  large  a  proportion 
of  its  funds  was  being  devoted  to  the  foreign  mission.  In 
an  editorial  in  the  "  Lutherische  Kirchenzeitung,"  May  i, 
1845,  a  forcible  expression  of  this  feeling  was  published. 

"Brother  Heyer,"  wrote  the  editor,  "left  this  country  in 
November,  1841,  and,  therefore,  will  have  been  absent  four 
years  next  November.  His  travelling  expenses  and  outfit 
money  amounted  to  $600.  He  was  six  months  en  route  for 
India,  during  which  time  he  was  paid  a  salary  of  $300.  His 
return  passage  would  cost  not  less  than  $600,  even  though  his 
salary  were  to  be  discontinued  during  the  period  of  his  voyage. 
The  total  amount  of  his  travelling  expenses  in  four  years, 
therefore,  would  be  $1500.  The  amount  expended  on  the 
mission  work  during  this  time  is  more  than  $4000,  making  a 
grand  total  of  $550x3  for  the  foreign  mission  which  Brother 
Heyer  now  wishes  to  forsake  without  giving  a  single  reason 
which,  in  our  opinion,  makes  his  return  necessary.  Nothing 
but  sickness  can  or  should  compel  his  return.  Brother  Heyer, 
however,  has  always  enjoyed  good  health,  as  Brother  Gunn's 
last  letter  also  states.  We  are,  therefore,  of  the  decided 
opinion  that  the  missionary  society  should  not  grant  the 
request  if  it  intends  to  carry  on  the  mission. 

"Apart  from  the  effect  which  a  refusal  of  the  request  may 
have  on  the  conduct  of  Brother  Heyer,  the  existing  state  of 
affairs  leads  us  to  raise  the  question,  whether  the  missionary 
society  should  continue  to  spend  two-thirds  of  its  income  for 
its  foreign  mission  and  the  other  one- third  for  home  mis- 
sions at  this  time,  while,  through  the  natural  increase  of  our 
population  and  through  immigration,  the  number  of  our 
brethren  in  the  faith  is  increasing  to  an  inconceivable  extent, 
and,  literally,  hundreds  of  thousands  are  living  here  without 
any  church  connection  whatever,  even  though  they  may 
desire  the  preaching  of  the  Word;  and  many  of  the  congrega- 
tions now  existing  are  unable,  because  of  their  poverty,  to 
pay  their  pastors  and  must  be  satisfied  with  a  divine  service 
once  every  eight  or  twelve  weeks.  Seeing  that  many  of  our 


HOW  GENERAL  SYNOD  GAINED  CONTROL  OF  GUNTUR   69 

pastors  in  this  country  are  obliged  to  live  in  great  want,  and  a 
considerable  number  of  our  congregations  are  burdened  with 
debts  resting  on-  their  church  buildings  or,  as  yet,  have  no 
church  buildings,  could  not  the  $5500  have  been  used  to 
better  advantage  for  home  missions  and  would  not  this 
money  have  produced  better  results  here  than  in  India;  and 
is  it  right  to  have  allowed  so  much  money  to  be  diverted  for 
the  benefit  of  strangers,  whilst  our  own  church  in  America 
has  been  bleeding  at  all  points?  In  our  humble  judgment 
this  is  buying  the  honor  of  having  a  foreign  mission  at  too 
great  a  price,  and  we  believe  that  our  foreign  mission  should 
be  abandoned.  Others  may  be  of  another  opinion,  and  we 
are  ready  to  be  otherwise  convinced,  wherefore  we  are  willing 
to  give  them  a  hearing  in  these  columns.  It  would  please  us 
to  hear  an  expression  of  the  contrary  opinion  before  the  meet- 
ing of  the  missionary  society,  in  order  that  its  members  might 
weigh  the  arguments  and,  after  due  deliberation,  come  to  a 
final  decision.  We  have  not  written  our  judgment  hastily. 
Indeed,  we  said  the  same  thing  at  the  meeting  of  the  synod 
in  Harrisburg;  nor  have  we  since  had  reason  to  change  our 
mind.  Nevertheless,  we  embrace  this  opportunity  to  call  for 
a  discussion  of  the  whole  matter." 

The  first  intimation  Heyer  gave  of  his  desire  to  return  to 
America  was  written  in  a  letter  dated  July  6,  1844,  not  quite 
two  years  after  he  had  begun  the  Guntur  Mission.  The  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  referred  the  matter  to  the  Missionary 
Society  at  its  meeting  in  Reading,  May  17-21,  1845,  which 
declined  to  authorize  Heyer's  return;  but  Heyer  in  almost 
every  letter  continued  to  refer  to  his  contemplated  departure 
from  India  some  time  in  1846.  The  Executive  Committee, 
however,  finally  decided  to  yield  to  the  missionary's  persistent 
request ;  and  the  Missionary  Society  at  its  meeting  in  Orwigs- 
burg,  June  8-10,  1846,  resolved  to  pay  the  expenses  of  his 
return  voyage,  but  to  discontinue  his  salary  as  soon  as  he  left 
Guntur.  Before  he  had  received  the  written  permission  of  the 
Executive  Committee,  Heyer  left  Guntur,  December  22,  1845, 
landing  at  New  York  early  in  August,  1846.  His  precipitous 
and  unexpected  return  to  America  was  due  to  a  combination 


70       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

of  causes.  In  the  first  place,  he  was  disheartened  because  of 
the  lack  of  support  for  the  mission  work  from  America. 
In  the  second  place,  he  was  homesick.  Furthermore,  his 
restless  spirit  demanded  another  change  of  scene  and  occupa- 
tion. He  wished,  also,  to  come  back  and  stir  up  the  Church  at 
home  to  more  vigorous  effort  for  its  foreign  mission ;  and  when 
he  believed  that  Gunn  had  made  sufficient  progress  in  Telugu 
to  assume  the  supervision  of  the  Mission,  he  came  home. 
It  was  a  most  unfortunate  mistake.  The  Executive  Committee 
was  right  when  it  maintained  that  he  had  no  adequate  reason 
for  leaving  the  Mission  in  Guntur,  which  needed  him  and 
which  gave  promise  of  growth  under  his  supervision.  Had 
he  remained  at  his  post  of  duty,  despite  every  discouragement 
and  every  longing  to  get  back  to  America,  the  Guntur  Mission 
might  not  have  been  lost  to  the  Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania, 
at  least  not  so  soon  after  its  establishment. 

After  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Ministerium  had  finally  decided  to  permit  Heyer  to 
return  to  America,  it  made  overtures  to  The  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  General  Synod,  whose  missionary,  the 
Rev.  Walter  Gunn,  was  to  remain  in  charge  of  the  Guntur 
Mission,  to  transfer  it  entirely  to  that  society.  The  proposal 
was  accepted  and  then  ratified  by  the  Missionary  Society  of 
the  Ministerium  at  its  meeting  in  1846. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  The  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  of  the  General  Synod  in  reporting  the  transfer  of  the 
Guntur  Mission  to  that  society,  at  its  meeting  in  New  York, 
May  16,  1848,  said,  among  other  things:  "We  feel  con- 
strained to  pay  a  passing  tribute  to  the  Missionary  Society  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Synod  for  their  devoted  zeal  and  activity  in 
the  mission  work.  To  that  society  we  owe  the  successful 
establishment  of  the  Mission  at  Guntur.  To  them  belongs 
the  proud  distinction  of  having  sent  the  first  Lutheran  mis- 
sionary from  the  United  States;  and  right  and  proper  was  it 
that  the  oldest  Lutheran  synod  in  this  country,  the  mother 
of  us  all,  should  have  taken  the  lead  in  this  noble  enterprise. 
It  was  in  strict  unison  with  the  spirit  which  characterized  the 
founders  of  that  venerable  body  in  leaving  their  fatherland 


HOW  GENERAL  SYNOD  GAINED  CONTROL  OF  GUNTUR   71 

to  establish  a  branch  of  our  Lutheran  Zion  in  the  then  wilder- 
ness of  America.  It  was  providential,  whether  we  consider 
the  man  sent,  those  who  sent  him,  the  time  or  the  section  of 
country  in  which  he  commenced  his  labors." 


CHAPTER  VII 

DR.  HEYER'S  SECOND  TERM  OF  SERVICE  AND  HIS  SUCCESS  IN 
THE  PALNAD  DISTRICT 

AFTER  Heyer's  return  to  the  United  States  in  1846,  "the 
painful  apprehension  was  felt  and  suggested  by  many  that,  as 
Gunn's  health  was  feeble  and  he  could  not  be  expected  to  hold 
on  for  any  length  of  time  in  India's  sultry  climate,  the  Mission 
must  soon  be  abandoned  and  our  promising  beginning  lost." 
This  pessimistic  view,  however,  did  not  prevail.  The  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  of  the  General  Synod  continued  to  sup- 
port Gunn,  and  after  a  lapse  of  two  and  a  half  years  Heyer 
was  permitted  to  resume  his  labors  in  Guntur. 

Although  he  was  not  allowed,  as  he  had  hoped,  to  under- 
take a  campaign  of  missionary  education  and  inspiration,  visit- 
ing conferences,  conventions  and  congregations  in  the  interest 
of  foreign  missions,  Heyer  soon  found  a  field  of  labor.  Before 
the  close  of  the  year  "The  Home  Missionary  Society  of  the 
General  Synod"1  called  him  to  start  a  German  congregation 
in  the  northwestern  section  of  Baltimore,  Md.  He  accepted 
and  began  his  work  on  the  first  day  of  the  new  year.  In 
three  months  a  congregation  of  seventy  families  was  organ- 
ized,^and  a  lot  and  a  building,  formerly  used  by  Methodists, 
located  in  Biddle  street,  were  purchased.  A  Sunday  School 
was  begun  and  a  class  of  four  catechumens  was  confirmed. 
The  average  attendance  at  the  regular  Sunday  services  was 
three  hundred.  Such  was  the  auspicious  beginning  of  St. 
John's  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  Baltimore. 

Besides  his  work  as  a  missionary  in  Baltimore,  Heyer 
found  time  to  take  a  special  course  in  medicine  at  Washington 
University,  and  at  the  close  of  the  scholastic  year  1847,  he 
received  the  degree  of  doctor  of  medicine.  He  was  then  fifty- 
four  years  old. 

1  Organized  in  Philadelphia  May  22,  1845. 
72 


DR.  HEYER'S  SECOND  TERM  OF  SERVICE  73 

His  connection  with  the  General  Synod's  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society  and  his  location  in  Baltimore  necessitated  the 
transfer  of  his  membership  from  the  Pennsylvania  to  the 
Maryland  synod. 

Dr.  Heyer  continued  to  cherish  the  hope  of  returning  to 
India,  accompanied  by  some  younger  man,  perhaps,  he 
thought,  by  his  youngest  son,  Theophilus.1  Friends  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Ministerium  urged  him  to  volunteer  to  re-enter 
the  service  of  its  missionary  society.  He  answered  them  in  a 
letter  published  in  "The  Lutheran  Observer,"  April  9,  1847. 

"Various  considerations,"  he  wrote,  "induced  me  to  ask 
leave  to  return  to  the  United  States  during  the  summer  of 
1846.  This  request  was  kindly  complied  with  and  I  made  use 
of  the  permission  granted,  as  various  missionaries  sent  out  by 
other  societies  had  done  before  me.  In  looking  back  upon 
that  period  of  my  life  during  which  I  resided  in  India,  I  can- 
not say  otherwise  than  that  the  time  was  most  pleasantly  and 
—with  gratitude  to  the  Lord,  be  it  stated — usefully  and  profit- 
ably spent.  The  mission  house,  the  schools  and  native  con- 
gregation in  Guntur,  erected  and  collected  by  my  instrumental- 
ity, will  tend  to  prove  this  assertion.  Hence  the  conclusion 
may  readily  be  drawn  that  I  did  not  leave  the  field  from  any 
dissatisfaction  with  the  place,  or  the  people,  or  the  work. 
Nor  has  anyone  heard  me  make  the  assertion,  that  I  should 
be  unwilling  to  spend  the  remaining  portion  of  my  life  in  pro- 
claiming the  gospel  tidings  among  the  benighted  but  other- 
wise interesting  people  in  the  Telugu  country.  My  opinion 
is  that  two  or  three  young  men  ought  to  be  sent  forthwith  to 
assist  Brother  Gunn  and  to  enable  him  to  extend  the  mis- 
sionary operations  in  and  around  Guntur.  Should  it  be 
thought  advisable  for  me  to  accompany  such  a  reinforcement, 
in  order  to  assist  them  on  the  way  in  studying  the  Telugu 
language,  I  should  probably  not  decline  the  undertaking. 

1  Contrary  to  Dr.  Heyer's  fondest  hopes,  none  of  his  sons  entered  the  min- 
istry. His  eldest  son,  Christian  Frederick,  after  spending  some  time  in  Penn- 
sylvania College,  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  went  to  Helmstedt,  Germany,  where  he 
attended  a  school  for  nearly  five  years.  He  returned  to  the  United  States  and 
studied  law  for  a  while.  In  1848  we  find  his  name  enrolled  as  captain  of  a  com- 
pany of  volunteers  fighting  in  the  Mexican  war.  He  died,  aged  thirty-four, 
while  Heyer  was  in  India. 


74       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  should  not  be  thought  best  to  send 
me  back  to  India,  then  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  to  continue 
my  residence  in  Columbia's  happy  land.  I  leave  it  to  the  Lord 
and  to  the  Church,  or  to  the  brethren  who  are  the  executive  of 
the  Church  in  this  matter,  to  decide." 

The  Missionary  Society  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium 
celebrated  its  anniversary  in  a  public  service  in  St.  Michael's 
German  Lutheran  Church,  Philadelphia,  on  the  evening  of 
June  i,  1847.  Heyer  was  the  principal  speaker  and  delivered 
a  very  impressive  address.  On  the  afternoon  of  June  3d  this 
society  resolved  to  ask  Heyer  to  go  back  to  India  and  pledged 
a  sum  sufficient  to  pay  his  salary,  but  requested  The  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  of  the  General  Synod  to  bear  the  expense 
of  his  outfit  and  journey  to  India.  To  prevent  a  repetition  of 
the  misunderstanding  concerning  furlough  or  resignation, 
Heyer  was  asked  to  promise  that  he  would  not  leave  the  mis- 
sion field  unless  the  society  failed  to  pay  his  salary  or  ill- 
health  compelled  him  to  leave  India. 

All  the  details  having  been  satisfactorily  adjusted,  Dr. 
Heyer  severed  his  connection  with  St.  John's  Church,  Balti- 
more, July  i,  1847,  and  then  devoted  four  months  to  an  itiner- 
ary in  the  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  Ministeriums,  present- 
ing the  cause  of  foreign  missions  and  arousing  greater  inter- 
est in  the  Guntur  Mission  wherever  he  preached.1 

Heyer's  reports  of  the  interest  and  benevolence  of  the 
Collector  of  the  Guntur  district,  J.  Henry  Stokes,  Esq.,  in- 
duced a  number  of  societies  to  send  gifts  of  appreciation  to 
that  gentleman  in  India.  The  Women's  Missionary  Society 
of  the  congregation  in  Harrisburg,  of  which  the  Rev.  C.  W. 
Schaeffer,  D.  D.,  was  the  pastor,  sent  a  mahogany  rocking- 
chair  for  Mr.  Stokes  and  a  reticule  for  his  wife.  The  mission- 
ary society  of  Salem  Church,  Lebanon,  Pa.,  sent  two  solar 


1  At  the  5  2nd  annual  meeting  of  the  New  York  Ministerium  held  September 
4th,  in  New  Germantown,  N.  J.,  Heyer  delivered  an  address  and  was  encour- 
aged by  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution:  "Resolved,  That  the  increased 
interest  in  our  mission  in  India  by  the  approaching  departure  of  Brother  Heyer 
to  that  field,  calls  loudly  upon  our  pastors  and  people  to  give  their  hearts  with 
more  earnestness  to  the  blessed  work  of  spreading  the  gospel  among  the 
heathen." 


DR.  HEYER'S  SECOND  TERM  OF  SERVICE  75 

lamps.  The  Executive  Committee  of  The  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  of  the  General  Synod  sent  a  copy  of  Harper's  Pictorial 
Bible.  In  his  letters  of  acknowledgment  and  thanks  Mr. 
Stokes'  nobility  of  mind  is  so  strikingly  revealed  that  at  least 
one  of  them  deserves  to  be  quoted: 

"To  the  Misses  E.  Rauthrauff  and  L.  Young,  Lebanon,  Pa. 

"Dear  Friends:  By  the  good  hand  of  our  God  upon  him, 
our  dear  brother,  Mr.  Heyer,  reached  this  place  (Guntur)  in 
peace  and  health  on  the  gth  of  May,  and  delivered  to  us  your 
elegant  note  and  the  beautiful  present  of  the  pastor  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  Lebanon.  We 
value  the  present  most  highly  and  desire  that  it  may  often 
remind  us  of  our  unseen  friends  in  the  West.  Still  more  do  we 
feel  grateful  for  that  love  of  which  the  present  and  note  are 
the  expression,  proving  that  there  is  among  those  who  desire 
to  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  a  bond  of  union  wider  and 
stronger  than  that  of  language,  country  or  blood.  'There  is 
neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there 
is  neither  male  nor  female;  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ 
Jesus.' 

"At  the  same  time  we  cannot  but  find  this  touching  re- 
membrance deeply  humiliating,  reminding  us  of  what  we 
ought  to  have  done  in  His  service,  whose  blood-bought  ones 
we  profess  to  be,  and  encouraged  by  the  kindness  we  have 
already  so  undeservedly  experienced,  beg  of  yourselves  and  the 
congregation  of  Zion's  Church  the  further  favor:  (i)  That 
you  will  set  apart  a  special  season  to  pray  for  us,  that  we  may 
have  grace  to  be  faithful  unto  the  end  and  not  hinder  the 
Lord's  work  by  our  deadness  and  inconsistency,  and  for  the 
Guntur  Mission  and  District;  and  (2)  that  you  will  try  and 
send  us  more  help.  The  fields  are  white  already  to  harvest, 
adults  wishing  to  listen  to  the  Gospel,  boys  and  girls  anxious 
to  be  instructed,  the  children  asking  for  bread  and  no  man 
breaketh  it  unto  them. 

"Believe  me  to  be  your  much  obliged  and  grateful  fellow- 
servant, 

J.  H.  STOKES." 


76       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

Besides  the  gifts  intended  for  Mr.  Stokes,  Heyer  received 
many  articles  for  his  personal  use  and  for  the  Mission,  and 
considerable  money  for  school  work.  He  provided  himself 
with  a  daguerrean  apparatus  with  which  to  take  pictures  in 
India. 

Less  than  a  month  before  the  date  fixed  for  the  sailing  of 
the  missionary,  the  money  to  pay  his  passage  still  remained  to 
be  raised.  A  call  was  sent  out  to  all  friends  of  the  Mission 
to  meet  on  October  2yth  and  28th  in  St.  James'  Church,  New 
York  City,  the  Rev.  Charles  Martin  pastor,  to  make  a  final 
effort,  in  connection  with  the  farewell  meeting,  to  raise  the 
•necessary  money.  Gloom  brooded  over  the  beginning  of  the 
conference.  Twelve  pastors,  representing  the  Pennsylvania, 
East  Pennsylvania,  New  York  and  Hartwick  synods,  were 
present.1  It  was  announced  that  the  balance  in  the  treasury 
of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  was  $125,  and  nearly  seven 
times  that  amount  was  needed  to  meet  the  immediate  demands 
of  the  enterprise.  The  first  rift  in  the  overhanging  cloud  was 
made  by  a  letter  from  Dr.  Mayer,  pastor  of  St.  John's  English 
Lutheran  Church,  Philadelphia,  enclosing  a  contribution  of 
$250  from  that  congregation.  The  treasurer  of  the  Hartwick 
synod  paid  over  $100;  the  pastor  of  St.  Matthew's  Church, 
Philadelphia,  $50;  and  St.  James'  congregation,  New  York 
City,  made  five  of  the  ministers  present  at  the  conference 
life-members  of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  by  paying 
$25  for  each  one.  After  the  offering  at  the  public  service  in 
the  evening  had  been  taken,  enough  money  was  gathered  to 
pay  Heyer's  passage,  send  Missionary  Gunn  six  months' 
salary  and  leave  a  balance  of  nearly  $150  in  the  treasury. 
So  deep  was  the  impression  made  by  this  liberality  that  the 
conference  passed  the  following  resolution:  "Resolved,  That 
from  the  gloomy  prospects  by  which  we  were  surrounded 

1  The  Rev.  F.  W.  Geissenhainer  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Stork  of  the  East  Pennsylvania  Synod,  the  Revs.  Dr.  H.  N.  Pohlman,  W.  D. 
Stroebel,  C.  F.  E.  Stohlmann,  Chas.  Martin,  Chas.  A.  Smith  and  Wm.  B. 
Askam  of  the  New  York  Ministerium,  the  Revs.  J.  Z.  Senderling,  Wm.  N. 
Schol]  and  Reuben  Dederick  of  the  Hartwick  Synod.  Those  who  sent  letters  of 
excuse  and  good  wishes  were  the  Revs.  J.  Few  Smith,  McCron,  Mayer,  J.  R. 
Keiser,  J.  C.  Baker,  Demme  and  Reichert.  This  list  includes  the  staunchest 
supporters  of  the  Guntur  Mission. 


DR.    HEYER'S' SECOND    TERM    OF    SERVICE  77 

yesterday  morning,  because  of  the  happy  success  which 
crowned  our  efforts  ere  the  evening  closed  upon  us,  we  feel 
called  upon  in  the  spirit  of  the  Apostle  to  thank  God  and 
take  courage." 

The  vessel  on  which  Heyer  took  passage  was  delayed  in 
Boston  harbor  until  December  4,  1847,  when  the  intrepid 
missionary  started  on  his  second  journey  to  India.  Madras 
was  reached  in  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  days.1  From 
Madras  he  sailed  in  a  slow  coasting  vessel  northward,  landing 
at  Masulipatam  May  8,  1848.  Here  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  Henry 
Stokes,  who  were  spending  the  hot  months  at  the  seaport, 
welcomed  him  back  to  India.  Guntur  was  reached  overland, 
Heyer  travelling  partly  on  horseback  and  partly  in  a  one- 
horse  bandy.  On  Tuesday  morning,  May,  15  1848,  the  mis- 
sionary reached  his  destination. 

During  Heyer's  absence  of  nearly  two  and  a  half  years 
Gunn  had  managed  the  mission  work  as  well  as  his  feeble 
health  had  allowed.  He  had  gone  to  Rajahmundry  in  Sep- 
tember, 1846,  to  assist  Valett  in  the  ordination  of  missionaries 
C.  W.  Groenning  and  Heise.  Directly  after  the  ordination 
Valett  and  Groenning  visited  Guntur,  and  while  they  were 
there  a  severe  storm  which  broke  during  the  night  of  October 
22d,  partly  demolished  the  mission  house.  Mr.  Stokes  con- 
tributed Rs.  noo,  about  $350,  for  the  immediate  erection  of  a 
new  bungalow;  and  funds  were  received  from  The  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  to  complete  the  building  into  which  Gunn 
and  his  family  moved  on  July  20,  1847. 

In  his  report,  dated  September,  1847,  Gunn  stated  that 
since  Heyer's  departure,  almost  two  years  previously,  he  had 
baptized  two  adults  and  three  children.  One  of  the  adults 
baptized  was  Stephen,  a  Mala,  a  former  disciple  of  a  priest, 
whom  Heyer  had  interested  in  Christianity  and  who,  after  his 
baptism  by  Gunn,  was  placed  in  charge  of  a  newly  organized 
Telugu  school  on  the  outskirts  of  Guntur,  thus  becoming  the 
first  native  Christian  teacher  in  the  Mission.  The  first  native 
catechist  employed  was  Nicodemus,  who  was  appointed  in 
March,  1847.  Mrs.  Gunn  superintended  a  girl's  school  in 

1  The  voyage  to  India  now  takes  about  thirty  days. 


78       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

Guntur,  teaching  the  older  pupils  the  art  of  needlework,  for 
which  the  wife  of  an  English  official  furnished  the  necessary 
material.  After  May,  1846,  when  the  school  in  Dachepalli 
was  abandoned,  the  mission  work  was  confined  entirely  to 
Guntur.  Gunn's  feeble  health  prevented  him  from  undertak- 
ing extensive  touring.  Once  during  December,  1847,  and 
January,  1848,  he  acompanied  Heise  of  Rajahmundry,  and 
Beer  of  Narsapur,  on  a  trip  to  the  Palnad  district,  where  he 
contracted  fever  from  which  he  was  just  convalescing  when 
Heyer  returned  to  the  Mission. 

After  his  arrival  Heyer  waited  a  month  for  the  extreme 
heat  to  pass  and  then,  toward  the  end  of  June,  reopened  the 
mission  schools.  In  the  English  school  twenty-six  boys  were 
enrolled;  in  the  Telugu  school,  forty-four;  in  the  old  Guntur 
school,  under  Stephen,  eighteen  boys.  Rebecca,  Stephen's 
wife,  a  baptized  Christian,  took  charge  of  the  girls  in  her 
husband's  school,  who  numbered  about  twelve.  Mrs.  Gunns' 
girls'  school  enrolled  thirty.  Gunn  and  his  family  occupied 
the  new  bungalow,  while  Heyer  lived  in  a  room  in  the  old 
mission  house.  Two  small  buildings,  costing  $150  each,  were 
erected  in  the  mission-compound  in  September,  1848.  One 
was  used  as  a  teacher's  residence,  the  other  as  the  girls' 
school. 

Mr.  Stokes'  assistant  collector,  Mr.  Newill,  was,  like  his 
chief,  a  generous  supporter  of  the  mission  work.  He  con- 
tributed about  half  as  much  as  his  superior.  Being  more 
familiar  with  the  vernacular  than  either  of  the  missionaries, 
he  translated  a  number  of  tracts  for  them  and  prepared  a 
Telugu  hymn  book  and  an  almanac  for  the  year  1849.  These 
he  had  published  at  his  own  expense  for  use  in  the  Mission. 

Up  to  the  close  of  the  year  1848,  the  fruits  of  the  mis- 
sionaries' labors  were  meagre.  The  number  of  native  adult 
communicants  in  the  Guntur  congregation  was  less  than  a 
dozen.  The  schools  proved  to  be  of  very  little  evangelistic 
value,  principally  because  the  teachers  were  Hindus  and 
strove  merely  to  make  their  employment  as  mission  agents  a 
stepping-stone  to  some  civil  service  in  government  employ. 
The  pupils  in  the  English  school,  moreover,  looked  forward 


DR.  HEYER'S  SECOND  TERM  OF  SERVICE  79 

to  the  same  goal.  Heyer's  early  attempt  at  a  boys'  boarding 
school  for  training  native  workers  had  not  been  repeated. 
Stephen,  the  only  Christian  teacher  in  the  Mission,  was  still 
an  experiment;  Nicodemus,  the  other  native  Christian  helper, 
was  more  of  a  colporteur  than  a  catechist.  Gunn  was  a 
confirmed  invalid  and  the  burden  of  the  work  rested  on 
Heyer. 

In  1849,  God,  in  a  most  unexpected  manner,  opened  a 
door  of  opportunity  to  Heyer,  and  he  was  permitted  to  enter 
it  and  begin  the  most  fruitful  period  of  his  work  as  a  foreign 
missionary.  On  January  22d,  that  year,  he  left  Guntur  on  a 
tour  of  the  Palnad  district,1  where  he  spent  about  a  month 
visiting  village  after  village,  preaching  the  Gospel  and  dis- 
tributing Bibles  and  tracts.  When  he  returned  to  Guntur 
he  reported  having  baptized  twenty-two  persons  who  had 
received  some  instruction  in  the  Christian  religion  from  a 
native  Christian  whose  name  was  John,  whom  Gunn  had 
baptized  while  Heyer  was  in  America.  Twenty  of  them, 
belonging  to  five  families,  all  of  the  weaver  caste,  were  resi- 
dents of  Polepalli. 

When  Mr.  Stokes  heard  of  Heyer's  success  he  advised  him 
at  once  to  establish  a  station  in  the  Palnad  district  and 
offered  to  build  a  house  for  the  missionary.  Heyer  accepted 
both  the  advice  and  the  offer  and  moved  to  Gurjal,  April  12, 
1849,  thus  establishing  the  second  station  of  the  American 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Mission  in  India.2 

On  the  Sunday  after  his  arrival  in  Gurjal  Heyer  organized 
a  congregation  there,  and  on  the  last  Sunday  in  May  he  bap- 
tized eleven  adults  and  children  living  in  Polepalli.  Schools 
were  started  in  Gurjal  and  Polepalli,  and  in  Dachepalli,  where 
a  previous  attempt  had  been  made.  Each  of  these  schools 
started  with  about  twenty  boys. 

Heyer  found  aboundant  opportunity  in  his  new  field  to 
use  his  knowledge  and  skill  as  a  physician.  In  a  letter  written 

1  Heyer,  accompanied  by  Valett,  had  made  his  first  tour  of  the  Palnad  dis- 
trict in  1844. 

2  Heyer  took   with  him  Nulla  Multhu,  a  Telugu  catechist,  who  afterward 
was  dismissed,  and  a  Christian  teacher  who  had  been  in  the  employ  of  the 
American  Mission  in  Madras. 


80       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

two  months  after  his  arrival  in  Gurjal  he  stated  that  he  had 
occasion  to  treat  as  many  as  two  hundred  different  cases. 

In  lieu  of  trained  teachers  Heyer  employed  the  more  in- 
telligent converts.  Samuel  was  assigned  to  the  Veldurti 
school,  opened  in  August;  John,  to  the  Polepalli  school; 
Devasikamani,  to  the  Gurjal  school;  Jacob,  to  the  Tumuru- 
cotta  school;  and  Appiah  was  employed  as  a  colporteur. 
Heyer  realized,  however,  that  in  order  to  make  the  most  of 
the  opportunity  presented  in  the  Palnad  district,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  train  young  men  for  the  work.  He,  therefore, 
took  a  n amber  of  promising  boys  into  his  home  and  provided 
for  their  board  and  lodging  at  a  monthly  expense  of  Rs.  6 
for  each  boarder.  For  this  purpose  he  used  funds  contributed 
by  Guntur  friends  and  the  money  given  him  in  the  United 
States  for  school-work.  The  first  pupils  in  this  boys'  board- 
ing school  were  Jacob,  Matthew,  Paulus,  Barnabas  and 
Rettivardu. 

After  eight  months  of  labor  Heyer  had  baptized  forty- 
two  persons  in  the  Palnad, — more  than  twice  as  many  as  in 
Guntur  during  the  first  six  years.  On  November  25,  1849, 
the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered  in  Gurjal  for  the  first 
time  to  fourteen  communicants. 

While  Heyer  was  living  and  working  in  the  Palnad  dis- 
trict the  third  American  missionary  reached  Guntur. 

George  J.  Martz,  a  native  of  Frederick,  Maryland,  after 
having  completed  his  theological  studies  in  the  Seminary  at 
Gettysburg,  accepted  the  call  of  The  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  of  the  General  Synod  and  was  commissioned  on  April 
4,  1849,  m  St.  Luke's  Church,  Valatie,  New  York,  Dr.  Wm. 
D.  Stroebel,  the  corresponding  secretary  of  the  society,  read- 
ing its  instructions  to  the  new  missionary.  He  sailed  from 
Boston  April  i9th,  and  reached  Madras  August  18,  1849. 
Here  he  waited  for  Gunn  who  was  coming  thither  on  sick  leave. 
Gunn  left  Masulipatam  the  same  day  Martz  reached  Madras, 
leaving  his  wife  and  children  behind  in  Guntur.  Rev.  C.  W. 
Groenning  had  gone  from  Ellore  to  Guntur  to  take  charge  of 
the  work  in  the  absence  of  Gunn.  After  staying  with  Gunn 
in  Madras  for  several  weeks,  Martz  left  that  city  on  September 


DR.  HEYER'S  SECOND  TERM  OF  SERVICE  81 

i4th  and  proceeded  to  Guntur.  Groenning  immediately  turned 
the  work  over  to  the  newly  arrived  missionary  and  went 
back  to  Ellore.  Mrs.  Gunn  with  her  children,  Martin  Luther 
and  Ellen,  also  left  Guntur  March  5,  1850,  on  an  overland 
journey  to  join  her  husband  in  Madras.  She  found  him 
greatly  improved  in  health  in  the  home  of  the  kind  and  hos- 
pitable Dr.  Scudder.  After  an  absence  of  ten  months  from 
Guntur  Gunn  and  his  family  returned  on  June  27,  1850, 
his  thirty-fifth  birthday;  but  the  pulmonary  disease  which  he 
had  contracted  could  not  be  permanently  checked.  The 
strain  of  preaching  and  travelling  was  too  great  for  his  weak 
physical  condition,  and  he  confined  himself  almost  entirely  to 
writing  letters  to  America  and  to  giving  counsel  and  advice 
to  the  inexperienced  Martz. 

Heyer's  work  in  the  Palnad  continued  to  meet  with  suc- 
cess. Although  he  had  gone  to  the  district  with  some  reluc- 
tance, because  it  was  commonly  reported  that  the  heat  was 
almost  unbearable  and  the  danger  of  getting  fever  very 
great,  he,  nevertheless,  carried  on  his  work  with  his  usual 
vigor,  living  in  almost  apostolic  simplicity.  It  is  related  that, 
realizing  the  danger  of  death  in  the  district,  he  had  a  coffin 
made  in  Guntur  and  sent  to  Gurjal,  and  that  soon  after  his 
arrival  in  that  village  he  had  a  grave  dug  near  his  house.  At 
times,  when  the  roof  of  his  house  leaked  badly,  he  slept  in  the 
coffin.  Strange  to  say,  he  was  not  sick  a  single  day,  and  on 
leaving  Gurjal  to  return  to  Guntur  he  burned  the  coffin,  filled 
in  the  grave  and,  standing  over  it,  triumphantly  exclaimed : 
"Oh,  death,  where  is  thy  sting?  Oh,  grave,  where  is  thy 
victory?" 

Tours  of  fifty  miles  and  more  on  foot  were  frequently 
made  by  Heyer  in  the  district.  "Sometimes,"  he  wrote, 
"when  I  could  find  no  better  shelter,  I  spread  a  blanket  over 
the  legs  of  my  table  to  exclude  the  night  air,  and  slept  beneath 
it,  as  though  it  were  a  small  tent." 

By  the  end  of  the  year  1849  Heyer  had  baptized  thirty- 
two  adults  and  twenty-four  children  in  the  Palnad  district  and 
the  number  of  inquirers  was  steadily  increasing.  Six  schools 
in  as  many  villages,  all  having  Christian  teachers,  enrolled  103 
6 


82       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

pupils,  some  of  whom  were  girls.  Small  buildings  for  school 
and  church  purposes  had  been  erected  in  Gurjal,  Polepalli, 
Veldurti  and  Macherla.  On  nine  acres  of  ground,  donated 
by  Mr.  Stokes,  Heyer,  in  1850,  began  the  experiment  of  estab- 
lishing a  Christian  colony  near  Gurjal,  modelled  after  those 
he  had  seen  in  the  Leipsic  Mission.1  Reports  of  his  success  in 
the  Palnad  were  spread  abroad  and  a  number  of  missionaries 
from  other  missions  visited  him  in  1850,  among  others  the 
Revs.  Sharkey  and  Darling  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society's 
mission  at  Masulipatam.  During  the  year  1850  Heyer  bap- 
tized no  less  than  126  adults  and  children.  Mr.  Stokes  felt 
that  this  success  ought  to  be  followed  up,  and  in  April,  1850, 
offered  to  contribute  Rs.  500  in  case  the  Executive  Committee 
of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  sent  out  a  single  man  from 
America,  and  Rs.  800  in  case  it  sent  out  a  married  missionary 
before  the  end  of  the  year.  His  conditions  could  not  be  met; 
but  before  the  year  had  ended  one  additional  missionary  had 
been  called  and  was  under  appointment  and  the  services  of 
a  second  were  secured  early  in  1851. 

The  most  important  event  of  the  year  1850  was  the  trans- 
fer of  the  Rajahmundry  Mission  with  its  missionaries  from  the 
North  German  Missionary  Society,  which  had  established  it, 
to  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  General  Synod. 
We  now,  therefore,  turn  in  our  next  chapter  to  the  early 
history  of  the  Mission  at  Rajahmundry. 

1  This  enterprise,  however,  was  soon  afterward  abandoned.  It  will  interest 
the  reader  to  know  that  Gurjal  is  now  the  residence  and  station  of  an  Ameri- 
can Baptist  missionary,  who  is  a  Swede  and  was  originally  a  Lutheran. 


CHAPTER.  VIII 

THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  RAJAHMUNDRY  MISSION 

FOUR  hundred  and  sixty  miles  north  of  Madras,  on  the 
Godavery  River,  one  of  the  twelve  sacred  streams  of  India, 
five  miles  above  the  point  where  the  river  divides  to  form 
its  delta,  lies  the  town  of  Rajahmundry,  the  ancient  seat 
of  an  Indian  prince  (rajah)  and  the  center  of  Telugu  culture 
and  literature.  Here  The  North  German  Missionary  Society 
of  Hamburg1  established  the  second  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Mission  in  the  Telugu  country,  to  which  its  attention  had 
been  drawn  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wyneken  and  other  friends  in 
America. 

Two  members  of  the  first  class  graduated  from  the  Mis- 
sion Institute  of  The  North  German  Society  in  1842,  were 
selected  as  its  first  missionaries  to  India;  but  one  of  them 
after  a  serious  illness  was  pronounced  to  be  physically  unfit  for 
work  in  the  tropical  climate  of  South  India  and  was  sent  in- 
stead to  the  society's  African  mission.  The  other,  an  in- 
separable friend,  asked  to  be  permitted  to  go  with  his  friend 
to  Africa  and  the  permission  was  given.  Then  Louis  P. 
Menno  Valett,  a  candidate  in  theology,  volunteered  to  be- 
come the  society's  first  missionary  to  India.  He  was  accepted 
and  duly  commissioned.  He  left  Hamburg  May  26,  1843, 
and  reached  Madras  October  2d,  four  months  and  one  week 
later.  After  Heyer  had  learned  of  his  arrival  in  Madras  he 
invited  him  to  come  to  Guntur,  live  with  him  in  the  mission 
house  and  study  Telugu  with  him.  Valett  accepted  the  in- 
vitation and  came  in  February,  1844.  A  few  weeks  later, 
however,  Valett  started  northward  "to  spy  out  the  land" 
and  to  select  the  foreign  mission  field  of  his  society.  He 

1  The  office  of  this  society  was  at  first  in  Hamburg.    Afterward  it  was  re- 
moved to  Bremen. 

83 


84       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

took  with  him  as  an  interpreter  one  of  the  older  pupils  of 
the  English-Telugu  school  in  Guntur.  Passing  through 
Ellore  he  went  as  far  north  as  Rajahmundry,  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  miles  from  Guntur.  Within  a  month  he 
was  back  in  Guntur,  where  he  remained  until,  in  January, 
1845,  ne  returned  to  Rajahmundry  to  begin  his  work  there 
as  a  resident  missionary.  Sir  Arthur  Cotton  and  several  of 
his  assistant  engineers,  engaged  in  the  construction  of  the 
dam  (anicut)  at  Dowlaishwaram,  pledged  their  moral  and 
financial  support  and  thus  greatly  encouraged  the  newly 
arrived  missionary.  He  at  once  organized  an  Anglo- vernacular 
school  like  Heyer's  in  Guntur,  and  also  a  purely  Telugu 
school.  From  the  very  beginning  regular  Sunday  morning 
services  and  daily  devotional  meetings  were  conducted  by 
Valett  in  Telugu  for  the  benefit  of  the  native  servants  of  resi- 
dent English  families,  who  attended  not  of  their  own  free 
will  but  because  their  English  employers  made  attendance  at 
these  services  compulsory.  The  intention  of  these  English 
residents  was  laudable,  but  compulsory  attendance  failed  to 
win  converts.  Every  Sunday  evening  the  missionary  held  an 
English  service  for  the  foreign  residents  and  Eurasians. 

After  Valett  had  labored  thus  for  a  little  over  a  year, 
two  additional  missionaries,  Charles  W.  Groenning  and  Ferdi- 
nand August  Heise,  joined  him.  After  their  graduation  from 
the  Mission  Institute  of  the  North  German  Society,  they 
sailed,  December  12,  1845,  from  Hamburg  for  Calcutta, 
arriving  at  Rajahmundry  July  22,  1846. 

Charles  William  Groenning  was  born  November  22,  1813, 
in  Fredericia,  Jutland,  Denmark.  His  father,  a  metal  worker, 
died  when  Charles  was  a  boy,  leaving  his  mother  with  four 
children.  After  her  husband's  death  she  moved  to  Coldring, 
on  the  boundary  line  between  Denmark  and  Schleswig- 
Holstein,  where  Charles,  at  the  age  of  eight  years,  was  ap- 
prenticed to  a  weaver  named  Horn,  who  treated  the  lad  as 
a  son.  From  Coldring,  Horn  went  to  Flensborg,  taking  his 
apprentice  with  him.  Charles  was  then  fourteen  years  of 
age.  In  Flensborg  he  was  confirmed  by  Pastor  Achenfeldt. 
Here  he  heard  Pastors  Lorenzen  and  Vallynarts  preach,  of 


CHARLES  WILLIAM  GROENNING 


A  TELUGU   BRAHMIN 

This  Bralimin   was  converted  to  Christianity  in  the  neighboring  Baptist   Mission.     He 
has  been   the  native  contractor   for  a   number  of  buildings   in   the 
Rajahmundry    Mission. 


THE    FOUNDING    OF    THE    RAJAHMUNDRY    MISSION         85 

whom  he  afterward  said  that  they  faithfully  preached  the 
Word  of  the  cross.  He  regularly  attended  the  monthly 
mission  meetings  conducted  by  Pastor  Lorenzen.  "These 
meetings,"  he  wrote,  "were  the  sweetest  ones  of  my  life.  .  .  . 
I  put  down  my  name  as  an  annual  contributor  to  foreign 
missions."  Because  of  his  interest  in  these  meetings  his 
fellow-workmen  derided  him  and  called  him  "one  of  the 
saints."  He  bore  their  derision  with  patience.  From  Flens- 
borg  he  went  to  Copenhagen  to  learn  how  to  make  damask  by 
machinery,  and  then  to  Elberfeld,  near  the  Rhine,  where  he 
worked  in  a  carpet  factory  and  where  he  was  brought  into 
contact  with  Moravians  who  awakened  in  him  an  earnest 
desire  to  become  a  foreign  missionary.  One  of  the  students 
at  the  Mission  Institute  at  Barmen  in  the  Wupperthal,  a 
young  Norwegian,  Hans  Knudsen,  almost  persuaded  him 
to  enter  that  institute;  but  he  returned  to  Flensborg 
as  a  young  man  of  twenty-five,  having  decided  to  remain 
at  his  trade  as  a  weaver.  He  started  a  carpet  factory 
which  proved  to  be  financially  successful;  but  the  call  of 
the  heathen  world  grew  stronger  and  more  irresistible,  and 
finally  in  March,  1840,  he  gave  up  his  trade  and  entered  the 
Mission  Institute  in  Hamburg  to  prepare  for  service  as  a  for- 
eign missionary.  During  his  last  two  years  as  a  student  he 
devoted  several  hours  every  Sunday  to  visits  among  the  poor 
of  the  city  of  Hamburg  and  held  religious  services  in  their 
homes.  He  was  graduated  in  1845,  and  together  with  his  class- 
mate, F.  A.  Heise,  was  commissioned  as  a  missionary  to 
the  Telugus  in  India.1 

When  Groenning  and  Heise  reached  Rajahmundry,  they 
found  Valett  busily  engaged  in  the  erection  of  the  first  mission 
house.  It  was  oddly  constructed.  In  the  center  of  the  building 
was  a  long,  wide  room,  used  as  a  common  living  room,  school 
room  and  place  of  public  worship.  At  each  of  the  four  corners 
of  this  large,  central  room  there  were  two  small  rooms,  each 
suite  for  the  private  use  of  a  missionary,  so  that  four  mission- 

1  We  are  sorry  that  we  cannot  furnish  a  sketch  of  Heise's  life  before  he  en- 
tered the  Mission  Institute.  The  sources  consulted  furnished  no  material  for 
such  a  sketch. 


86       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

aries  could  be  accommodated.  The  completed  building  cost 
about  $1000. 

Two  months  after  their  arrival  Groenning  and  Heise  were  or- 
dained at  Rajahmundry  by  Valett  and  Gunn  of  Guntur.  For  a 
year  and  a  half  they  devoted  themselves  to  the  study  of  Telugu 
and  English,1  assisted  Valett  as  opportunity  offered,  and  in 
turn,  visited  Gunn  at  Guntur  and  Heyer  in  the  Palnad  district. 

The  monotony  of  the  pioneer's  life  was  broken  by  a  joyful 
event  in  1848,  when  Valett  married  the  sister  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Bowden,  a  Plymouth  Brethren  Baptist  missionary,  then 
stationed  at  Palkole  near  Narsapur.  After  the  wedcling  the 
erection  of  a  suitable  bungalow  in  Rajahmundry  was  begun, 
but  before  its  completion,  after  scarcely  a  year  of  married  life, 
Mrs.  Valett  died. 

When  both  Groenning  and  Heise  were  ready  to  begin 
independent  mission  work,  it  was  felt  that  one  of  them  should 
start  a  new  station.  Ellore  was  chosen  as  the  most  promising 
place,  and  in  May,  1849,  Groenning  began  to  preach  the  Gospel 
in  that  town.  Three  months  later  he  left  Ellore  to  take  charge 
of  the  work  in  Guntur  during  Gunn's  absence  on  sick  leave. 
Returning  to  Ellore  after  Martz  reached  Gantur,  he  began 
two  Telugu  schools,  in  each  of  which  about  twenty  pupils  were 
enrolled  at  the  start.  The  year  1850  was  the  most  eventful  one 
of  his  life.  In  it  occurred  his  transfer  to  The  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Society  of  the  General  Synod,  concerning  which  more  will 
be  said  later,  and  his  marriage  to  Henrietta  Krug,  sister-in-law 
of  Mr.  Nagel,  a  merchant  of  Hamburg,  and  an  intimate  friend 
of  Amalie  Sieveking.  They  had  become  engaged  to  be  married 
before  Groenning  left  Germany,  but  The  North  German  Mis- 
sionary Society  had  declared  itself  financially  unable  to  sup- 
port a  married  missionary,  and  so  Groenning  was  obliged  to 
leave  his  fiancee  behind  in  Germany  and  wait  until  the  society's 
finances  enabled  it  to  send  her  after  him  to  India.  They 
waited  five  years  without  hope,  and  then  came  the  news  of  the 

1  Non-English  missionaries  in  India  were  and  still  are  at  a  disadvantage, 
because  they  must  learn  English  as  well  as  Telugu.  As  a  rule,  however,  they 
are  good  linguists  and  overcome  the  disadvantage.  Groenning  did.  His  native 
language  was  Danish.  He  spoke  German  fluently.  He  gained  a  fair  working 
knowledge  of  both  English  and  Telugu. 


THE    FOUNDING    OF    THE    RAJAHMUNDRY   MISSION          87 

transfer  of  Groenning  to  the  American  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Mission  under  the  direction  of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
of  the  General  Synod.  The  American  society  gave  its  consent 
to  their  marriage  and  in  a  few  months  Groenning's  fiancee  was 
in  Madras,  where  he  met  her  and  where  they  were  married  on 
October  2,  1850.  After  a  two  months'  stay  in  Guntur,  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  C.  W.  Groenning  went  to  Ellore,  where  they  lived 
and  labored  until  July,  1851,  when  he  was  appointed  resident 
missionary  at  Guntur. 

Martz  succeeded  Groenning  at  Ellore,  but  remained  there 
only  five  months,  and  then  hi  January,  1852,  after  a  period  of 
service  as  a  foreign  missionary  lasting  two  years,  returned  to 
the  United  States. 

In  consequence  of  Martz's  departure,  Ellore  was  abandoned, 
after  having  been  a  station  of  The  North  German  Missionary 
Society  for  a  year  and  three  months  and  of  The  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  General  Synod  for  a  year  and  a  half. 
To-day  it  is  in  the  possession  of  The  Church  Missionary 
Society  of  England. 

At  this  point  it  becomes  necessary  to  turn  our  attention 
from  the  mission  work  in  India  to  the  progress  of  affairs  in  the 
Church  in  America. 

Heyer's  return  to  India  in  1847,  perceptibly  increased  the 
foreign  mission  interest  and  effort  of  the  home-church.  The 
reports  and  letters  of  the  missionaries  and  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  published  in 
"The  Lutheran  Observer"  and  the  "Kirchenzeitung,"  were 
read  with  interest.  Heyer's  bi-monthly  letters  from  Gurjal  to 
Andora  and  Matthias  Henry,  children  of  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Rich- 
ards, D.  D.,  great-grandchildren  of  the  patriarch  Henry 
Melchior  Muhlenberg,  and  to  various  Sunday  schools,  which 
appeared  regularly  in  "The  Lutheran  Observer,"  were 
especially  appreciated. 

The  method  of  conducting  mission  work  was  changed  in 
the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  in  1848  (June  2ist),  when,  in- 
stead of  a  missionary  society,  a  standing  synodical  committee 
for  foreign  and  domestic  missions  was  appointed.  This  meant 


88       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

that  the  synod  as  a  whole  assumed  responsibility  for  the  pay- 
ment of  Heyer's  salary  of  $600  a  year  and  for  such  sums  as 
he  needed  to  carry  on  his  work.  This  change  in  method  was 
a  change  for  the  better.1 

For  the  other  missionaries  besides  Heyer  and  the  rest  of 
the  work  not  under  his  charge,  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
of  the  General  Synod  held  itself  responsible.  It  drew  most  of 
its  support  from  the  New  York,  Hartwick  and  Pittsburgh 
synods.  The  greater  interest  of  these  synods  in  the  work  of 
foreign  missions  must  be  ascribed  to  the  fact  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  executive  committee  of  The  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  were  drawn  mostly  from  the  New  York  Ministerium; 
that  Gunn  and  Snyder  were  members  of  the  Hartwick  Synod ; 
that  the  missionary  zeal  of  Rev.  William  A.  Passavant,  D.  D., 
a  firm  friend  of  Heyer,  pervaded  the  Pittsburgh  Synod;  and 
that  the  First  Church  in  Pittsburg  gratefully  remembered  its 
indebtedness  to  Heyer  by  leading  all  other  congregations  in 
that  synod  in  the  amount  of  its  foreign  mission  contributions. 

The  financial  problem  in  the  beginning  of  the  foreign 
mission  work  in  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America,  as  we  have 
already  had  occasion  to  note,  was  a  serious  one.  The  receipts 
were  meagre  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  missionaries  few  and 
their  efforts  restricted.  To  give  an  idea  of  the  annual  receipts 
and  expenditures  of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  during 
the  late  forties,  we  insert  here  the  treasurer's  report  for  the 
year  commencing  May  16,  1848,  and  ending  May  n,  1849: 

RECEIPTS 

From  synods,  congregations  and  schools $1695.82 

From  American  Tract  Society 200.00 

Balance  from  previous  year 1.40 

Total $1897.22 

1  In  "The  Lutheran  Observer"  of  October  18, 1850,  Martin  Buehler,  treasurer 
of  "The  Foreign  Missionary  Society,"  acknowledged  receipt  of  the  following 
contributions  forwarded  through  the  treasurer  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium, 
Rev.  J.  C.  Baker,  D.  D.:  Heyer's  salary  in  advance  to  November,  1851,  $600; 
for  schools  from  Rev.  Stohlmann's  congregation,  New  York  City,  $35;  Juvenile 
Missionary  Societies,  St.  Michael's  and  Zion's,  Philadelphia,  $80;  St.  John's,  Eas- 
ton,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  W.  Richards,  $15.62;  Rev.  Mr.  Mennig's  congregation,  Potts- 
ville  Pa.,  $18.88.  Others  who  contributed  liberally  were  St.  John's,  Phila- 
delphia, Rev.  Dr.  Mayer;  Trinity,  Lancaster,  Rev.  J.  C.  Baker,  D.  D.;  Salem 
Lebanon,  Rev.  W.  G.  Ernst. 


THE    FOUNDING    OF    THE    RAJAHMUNDRY   MISSION          89 

EXPENDITURES 

May  19,  1848.    To  tract  distribution $100.00 

Sept.  8,  1848.     To  6  months'  salary  to  Gunn 333-oo 

Dec.  16,  1848.    To  6  months'  salary  to  Gunn 333.00 

Dec.  16,  1848.    To  schools,  catechists,  etc 67.00 

Dec.  16,  1848.    To  expenses  of  committee 21.50 

Jan.  12,  1849.    To  G.  J.  Martz,  >£  annual  salary 100.00 

April  7,  1849.    To  G.  J.  Martz,  expenses 70.00 

April  7,  1849.    To  G.  J.  Martz,  outfit 250.00 

April  7,  1849.    To  G.  J.  Martz,  passage  to  India 250.00 

April  7,  1849.    To  schools,  catechists,  books,  etc 146.43 

May  10,  1849.    To  tract  distribution 100.00 

May  10,  1849.    To  expenses  of  committee 37.00 

May  10,  1849.    To  expenses  of  treasurer 2.47 

May  10,  1849.    To  balance 86.82 

Total $1897.22 

Estimate  of  expenses  for  1849-50: 

Salary  of  Gunn $666.00 

Salary  of  Martz 400.00 

Schools,  native  workers,  books,  etc 300.00 

Buildings 500.00 

Contingent  expenses  at  home 50.00 

Total $1916.00 

Although  the  conditions  of  Mr.  Stokes'  offer  to  pay  the 
travelling  expenses  of  an  additional  missionary  could  not  be 
met,  it  emphasized  the  need  of  sending  out  more  missionaries, 
and,  as  a  consequence,  a  call  was  extended  to  William  J. 
Cutter,  a  student  in  Wittenberg  Seminary. 

William  J.  Cutter  was  born  in  Germany.  His  parents, 
who  were  Roman  Catholics,  emigrated  to  the  United  States 
when  he  was  a  boy.  As  a  young  man  he  was  convinced  of  the 
errors  of  Roman  Catholicism  and,  in  1841,  united  with  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  congregation  at  Jeffersontown,  Ken- 
tucky, Rev.  George  Yeager  pastor.  Persuaded  that  he  ought 
to  consecrate  himself  to  the  holy  ministry,  he  entered  Witten- 
berg Seminary.  At  the  suggestion  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  whose  call  to  ser- 
vice in  the  foreign  field  he  accepted,  he  completed  his  theologi- 
cal education  in  Hartwick  Seminary,  in  order  that  he  might 
make  the  acquaintance  of  pastors  and  congregations  in  the 
East,  and  was  graduated  from  that  institution  in  1851.  He 
was  ordained,  married,  and  was  commissioned  that  same  year. 

While    the    Foreign    Missionary  Society  was  striving  to 


90       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

increase  its  force  of  foreign  missionaries,  an  opportunity  was 
offered  to  enlarge  its  foreign  mission  field.  During  1848 
and  1849,  on  account  of  the  disturbed  state  of  political  affairs 
in  Germany,  the  treasury  of  The  North  German  Missionary 
Society  became  embarrassed,  forcing  the  society  to  decide 
upon  the  abandonment  of  one  of  its  foreign  fields.  Labor- 
ing under  the  impression  that  the  much  lauded  intelli- 
gence and  philosophical  acumen  of  the  Hindus  demanded 
missionaries  with  a  university  training,  and  feeling  itself  un- 
able to  furnish  such  men,  the  society  resolved  to  abandon  its 
India  field.  The  first  step  in  this  direction  was  made  when 
the  service  of  Groenning  was  offered  to  The  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Society.  His  formal  transfer  was  made  in  August,  1850. 
In  a  letter  dated  Hamburg,  August  6,  1850,  in  which  Groen- 
ning's  transfer  was  ratified,  John  Hartwig  Braun,  secretary  of 
The  North  German  Missionary  Society,  offered  to  transfer 
also  the  Rajahmundry  station  and  missionaries,  writing  as 
follows:  "There  are  two  ordained  ministers  at  Rajahmundry, 
Valett  and  Heise.  An  English  school  supported  by  English 
residents  has,  thus  far,  called  for  no  expenditures  on  our  part. 
Rs.  looo  have  accumulated  at  Rajahmandry  as  a  school  fund. 
There  has  also  been  an  attempt  made  to  conduct  a  vernacular 
school,  likewise  at  the  expense  of  residents.  Our  society's 
annual  expenditures  for  the  Rajahmundry  station  have  been 
as  follows:  Valett's  salary,  Rs.  1200;  Heise's  salary,  Rs.  1000; 
incidental  expenses,  Rs.  600;  total,  Rs.  2800. l  Two  dwellings 
have  been  erected.  The  compound  agreement  is  for  ninety 
years  with  an  insignificant  rent,  payable  to  the  government. 
The  houses  referred  to  have  cost  Rs.  4500.  No  compensation 
is  asked  for  either  of  them  or  for  money  expended  by  us  on  the 
Mission;  but  we  would  not  be  willing  to  refund  the  Rs.  1000 
which  we  borrowed  from  the  school  fund.  You  will  be  asked 
to  assume  that  debt.  To  maintain  the  mission  any  longer  is 
beyond  the  ability  of  The  North  German  Missionary  Society. 
Its  abandonment  has  been  resolved ;  and  if  neither  your  society 
nor  any  other  will  continue  the  work,  it  will  be  discontinued 
at  the  close  of  the  present  year.  We  are  anxious  that  you 

1  This  was  approximately  $1400. 


THE    FOUNDING    OF    THE    RAJAHMUNDRY    MISSION          91 

should  undertake  it.  We  earnestly  request  that  you  give  this 
offer  your  serious  consideration  and  we  pray  the  Lord  to  direct 
your  minds  according  to  His  good  pleasure." 

This  offer  appealed  to  the  Executive  Committee  of  The 
Foreign  Missionary  Society,  and  in  an  open  letter  to  the 
Church  the  situation  was  explained  as  follows: 

"Here  the  committee  feel  in  duty  bound  to  pause,  not  be- 
cause they  are  at  a  loss  to  determine  what  ought  to  be  the 
answer  to  this  new  appeal,  but  we  think  it  best  and  proper 
to  submit  the  matter  to  the  churches,  whose  agents  we  are, 
and  wait  for  their  response.  The  question  is  not,  what  is  our 
duty?  That  question  is  settled.  The  Providence  of  God  has 
settled  it.  The  voice  of  the  Lord  has  been  distinctly  heard  in 
every  call  that  has  been  addressed  to  us,  and  the  only  question 
to  be  determined  is  whether  the  Church  is  willing  to  obey  the 
voice,  whether  the  Church  is  prepared  to  occupy  the  field 
which  the  Lord  has  made  ready  to  our  hands.  We  are  con- 
fident that  the  answer  will  be:  Go  on;  continue  to  follow  the 
leadings  of  Providence,  as  you  have  done;  promptly  answer 
every  call  and  we  will  stand  by  you  with  our  contributions  and 
our  prayers." 

The  confidence  of  the  committee  was  not  misplaced.  The 
New  York  and  Hartwick  Synods  at  their  meetings  in  the  fall 
of  1850  passed  resolutions  enthusiastically  advising  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  offer;  and,  having  received  sufficient  assur- 
ance of  support,  the  Executive  Committee1  of  The  Foreign 
Missionary  Society,  assembled  in  the  study  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
H.  N.  Pohlmann  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  October  30,  1850,  solemnly 
resolved,  "that  we  accept  the  transfer  from  The  North 
German  Society  of  their  mission  in  India  and  that  we  will 
give  each  of  the  missionaries,  Valett  and  Heise,  $500  salary 
per  annum." 

On  January  i,  1851,  the  Rajahmundry  mission  and  mis- 
sionaries passed  under  the  control  of  The  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  of  the  General  Synod,  which  thus  doubled  the  number 

1  The  executive  committee,  as  then  constituted,  included  the  Revs.  Dr. 
Henry  N.  Pohlmann,  chairman;  J.  Z.  Senderling,  corresponding  secretary; 
Wm.  D.  Stroebel,  Wm.  N.  Shell  and  C.  A.  Smith. 


92       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

of  its  missionaries  and  the  area  and  importance  of  its  mis- 
sion operations  in  India. 

Spurred  by  the  prompt  and  hearty  response  of  the  Church 
to  the  call  for  the  extension  of  its  foreign  mission  work,  and 
conscious  of  the  need  of  more  missionaries  to  man  its  larger 
field,  the  Executive  Committee  proceeded,  in  February,  1851, 
to  call  another  missionary. 

William  E.  Snyder  was  born  in  Allamachy,  Warren  County, 
N.  J.,  June  27,  1823.  His  father,  Andrew  B.  Snyder,  was 
by  occupation  a  miller.  His  mother,  Charlotte  Sophia,  who 
died  in  1835,  was  the  only  sister  of  the  Rev.  George  B. 
Miller,  D.  D.,  professor  of  theology  in  Hartwick  Seminary. 
After  the  death  of  his  mother,  William  went  to  Hartwick, 
N.  Y.,  where  he  attended  public  school,  his  father  having 
meanwhile  removed  to  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  and,  in  1848,  to 
Paterson,  N.  J.  In  1838  William  became  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  in  Hartwick.  He  completed  his  classical 
studies  in  Rutgers  College,  New  Jersey,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1844.  Returning  to  Hartwick  he  studied  theology 
under  his  uncle  and  graduated  from  the  seminary  in  two 
years.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Hartwick  Synod  at 
Berne,  Albany  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1849,  after  which  he  was 
employed  as  a  teacher  in  Hartwick  Seminary,  where  a  lively 
interest  was  taken  in  the  foreign  mission  work  of  the  Church. 

After  he  had  accepted  the  call  to  be  a  foreign  missionary, 
he  was  examined,  ordained  and  commissioned  at  a  special 
meeting  of  the  ministerium  of  the  Hartwick  Synod  on  Wed- 
nesday, July  30,  1851,  in  Schoharie,  N.  Y.,  the  Rev.  G.  A. 
Lintner,  newly-elected  General  Agent  of  The  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Society,  preaching  the  sermon.  Before  his  ordination,  on 
May  6th,  he  married  Susan  Maria,1  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
St.  John,  a  Presbyterian  minister.  Together  they  sailed  in  the 
company  of  Rev.  and  Mrs.  W.  J.  Cutter  from  Boston,  August 
11,1851,  and  reached  Guntur  February  20,1852.  Their  arrival 
on  the  field  increased  the  mission  force  to  six  ordained  mis- 
sionaries and  three  missionaries'  wives. 

1  She  was  born  March  24,  1820,  at  Milford,  Otsego  County,  N.  Y.,  and  was 
educated  in  Genesee  and  Cooperstown,  N.  Y. 


THE    FOUNDING    OF    THE    RAJAHMUNDRY    MISSION          93 

Gunn  had  gone  to  his  eternal  reward,  the  first  missionary 
from  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America  to  lay  down  his  life 
on  a  foreign  mission  field.  He  died  of  consumption  July  5, 
1851,  lamented  by  his  widow  and  two  children,  Martin  Luther 
and  Ellen,  by  all  the  missionaries,  by  the  English  residents 
and  by  the  native  Christians  in  Guntur,  some  of  whom  had 
visited  him  during  his  last  illness  and  had  left  his  bedside 
deeply  impressed  with  the  strength,  comfort,  courage  and 
hope  of  Christian  faith  in  the  face  of  death.1 

In  the  minutes  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  The  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  the  following  tribute  is  found:  "Our 
brother,  Rev.  Walter  Gunn,  had  respectable  attainments. 
He  was  evangelical  in  his  views  and  principles,  irreproachable 
in  all  his  conduct,  of  humble,  devoted  and  ardent  piety.  In 
his  missionary  life  he  was  truthful,  upright,  faithful,  courageous 
and  persevering.  As  his  motto  was,  "Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for 
me" — his  favorite  hymn — so  in  his  preaching  would  he  have 
Christ  presented  to  the  heathen  heart  and  formed  therein. 
He  has  finished  his  work.  He  sleeps  his  last  sleep.  He 
has  gone  up  to  join  Ziegenbalg  and  Schwartz  and  Martin  and 
a  host  of  worthies  who  have  fallen  in  bloodless  battles  on 
India's  shores." 

His  remains  were  buried  in  the  Christian  cemetery  in 
Guntur  by  the  side  of  his  infant  son,  Herman  Francke,  on 
Sunday  afternoon,  July  6th.  Heyer  and  Groenning  conducted 
the  funeral  services  in  English  and  Telugu.  They  were  at- 
tended by  the  district  judge,  the  chief  magistrate,  the  assist- 
ant collectors,  the  commanding  officer,  the  government  en- 
gineer, the  government  physician,  and  a  large  number  of 
natives,  both  Christian  and  Hindu.  The  coffin  was  carried  in 
a  palankeen  by  twelve  bearers  from  the  house  to  the  cemetery. 
At  the  gate  of  the  cemetery  twelve  invalided  native  sepoys 
took  up  the  palankeen  and  carried  it  to  the  grave.  Messrs. 
Stokes  and  Nesbit  and  other  English  residents  of  Guntur 
placed  a  monument  on  the  grave.  Mr.  Stokes,  who  was  five 

lTo  Judge  Rohde,  who  visited  him  the  day  before  his  death,  the  dying 
missionary  feebly  whispered:  "I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed  and  am  per- 
suaded that  He  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto  him  against 
that  day."— II.  Timothy  1:12. 


94       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

hundred  miles  away  and  could  not  attend  the  funeral,  wrote 
to  the  bereaved  widow  this  fine  tribute:  "His  life  shone  clear 
and  steady  and  many  have  had  reason  to  glorify  God  in  him. 
His  pure  and  tender  spirit,  his  hearty  love  for  his  brethren, 
his  meekness,  his  patient  labor,  his  unrepining  sufferings — 
in  all  he  has  left  us  a  bright  and  valuable  example." 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  FIELD   OF  THE  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

AT  the  close  of  the  year  1851,  after  Ellore  had  been  aban- 
doned as  a  station,  the  American  Evangelical  Lutheran  Mis- 
sion in  India,  under  the  control  of  The  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  of  the  General  Synod,  occupied  three  strategic  points 
in  the  Telugu  country:  Guntur  on  the  south,  Rajahmundry 
on  the  north,  and  the  Palnad  district,  west  of  Guntur.  Apart 
from  Heyer's  work  in  the  Palnad  district,  however,  practically 
no  work  was  done  outside  of  the  towns  of  Guntur  and  Rajah- 
mundry. 

Valett  left  Rajahmundry  soon  after  his  transfer  to  The 
Foreign  Missionary  Society.  He  had  been  in  India  seven 
years  and  desired  to  return  to  Germany  on  furlough.  He 
was  permitted  to  do  so  and  left  Rajahmundry  March  9,  1851. 
After  the  expiration  of  his  furlough  The  Foreign  Missionary 
Society's  executive  committee  dispensed  with  his  services  on 
the  ground  of  financial  stringency.  He  returned  to  India, 
however,  as  a  missionary  of  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
and  labored  at  Bellary  and  Chicacole  for  seven  years,  from 
1852  to  1859.  Later  he  accepted  a  pastorate  hi  Hannover, 
Germany,  became  Superintendent  with  residence  at  Sand- 
stedt,  near  Bremen,  and  continued  in  this  office  until  1887, 
when  he  retired  on  a  pension.  He  died  in  Bremen  on  March 
23,  1892,  aged  seventy-nine  years. 

Heise  continued  the  mission  work  at  Rajahmundry.  In 
an  official  communication  to  Rev.  Jacob  Z.  Senderling,  cor- 
responding secretary  of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  he 
wrote,  on  April  7,  1851,  as  follows: 

"I  shall  endeavor  to  give  you,  according  to  your  just 
wishes,  a  brief  description  of  the  place  and  district  of  Rajah- 
mundry from  the  missionary  point  of  view,  and  also  a  short 

95 


g6       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

account  of  the  mission  work  and  the  present  state  of  the 
mission. 

"By  the  natives  the  town  Rajahmundry  is  called  Rajah- 
mahendrawaram,  which  means  the  great  King  Indrudu's 
gift.  It  is  a  very  ancient  town  of  about  14,0x30  inhabitants, 
situated  on  the  N.  E.  side  of  the  Godavery  River,  and  is  the 
seat  of  two  judges,  one  collector  and  two  assistant  collectors. 
Four  miles  to  the  south  is  Dowlaishwaram,  a  place  recently 
become  of  much  importance  in  consequence  of  the  anicut  or 
dam,  built  four  miles  long  across  the  Godavery,  preventing 
the  water  from  flowing  into  the  sea  in  its  natural  course  and 
leading  it  by  a  great  system  of  canals  into  the  surrounding 
country  for  irrigation  purposes.  In  this  great  work  Col. 
Cotton,  a  sincere  follower  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  about 
twelve  engineers  are  employed.  Under  them  are  a  great 
many  sub-officers  and  about  nine  thousand  native  laborers. 
To  the  south  of  Dowlaishwaram  lies  the  very  fertile  Godavery 
delta  with  its  densely  populated  villages  and  towns,  among 
which  there  are  several  of  importance  for  missionary  opera- 
tions, such  as  Coconada  and  Koringa.  Two  other  important 
places  are  Pittapur  and  Peddapur,  residences  of  native 
princes.  Only  two  miles  from  Peddapur  is  Samulkot,  a  large 
place  and  a  military  station  with  one  regiment  of  native  in- 
fantry. 

"The  population  of  the  Rajahmundry  district  is  about 
700,000.  The  people  generally  surround  the  preacher,  seem- 
ingly paying  attention,  but  the  larger  number  of  hearers  I 
dare  scarcely  compare  with  the  wayside  of  our  Lord's  parable, 
for  they  do  not  allow  the  Word  to  reach  their  hearts.  There 
are  others,  however,  who  are  dissatisfied  with  their  philo- 
sophical religion  and  appear  to  be  more  inclined  to  pay  heed 
to  the  Gospel.  In  general  the  people  are  of  a  civil  and  oblig- 
ing disposition  and  are  given  to  their  religion  and  customs, 
because  of  their  reverence  for  everything  that  has  come  down 
from  their  forefathers,  and  because  they  are  carnally  minded. 
.  .  .  The  visible  fruits  of  our  missionary  labors  are  rather 
meagre.  Only  four  adults  have  been  received  into  the 
Church  by  Holy  Baptism.  Considering  our  unworthiness, 


THE    FIELD    OF    THE    FOREIGN   MISSIONARY    SOCIETY      97 

the  difficulties  with  which  we  must  contend  and  the  power  of 
Satan  in  the  land,  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  you  feel  grateful 
with  us  for  these  firstfruits.  Besides  the  daily  devotions 
with  our  servants,  which  others  are  permitted  to  attend,  we 
conduct  a  divine  service  in  Telugu  every  Sunday,  and  every 
Sunday  evening  an  English  service  for  the  English  residents 
and  East  Indians  who  desire  to  attend.  Recently  we  also 
began  Telugu  services  in  Dowlaishwaram.  We  did  so  at  the 
invitation  of  a  number  of  Christian  people  residing  there. 
Since  Mr.  Valett  has  left  me  alone  at  the  station,  I  have  not 
been  able  to  hold  regular  services  there  on  Sunday,  but  go 
during  the  week  to  preach  and  examine  the  school  which  is 
supported  by  one  of  the  engineers  at  work  on  the  anicut. 
Preaching  and  conversation  with  inquirers  who  come  to  our 
homes  occupy  most  of  our  time.  Though  we  have  not  many 
converts,  we  perceive  that  the  name  of  our  blessed  Lord  is 
being  made  known  in  this  district. 

"The  number  of  boys  in  our  English  school,  which  during 
the  past  two  years,  in  particular,  had  been  in  charge  of  Brother 
Valett,  has  fallen  off  since  his  departure,  and  at  present  the 
school  enrolls  only  nineteen  boys.  Upon  the  desire  of  some 
natives,  a  Telugu  school  has  been  begun  in  a  village  near  Rajah- 
mundry.1  About  twelve  boys  attend.  The  teacher  is  one  of  our 
converts.  His  pay  is  Rs.  5  per  month.  At  present  the  monthly 
expense  of  the  English  school  is  Rs.  33  (about  15  dollars).  Rs.  4 
are  paid  for  a  peon  and  ten  annas  for  a  sweeper- woman.  The 
regular  monthly  subscription  of  English  residents  toward  the 
school  fund  amounts  to  Rs.  47.  Rs.  1000  have  accumulated 
as  a  school  fund,  and  have  been  invested.  The  interest  now 
amounts  to  Rs.  150.  I  have  a  balance  in  hand,  not  yet 
deposited,  of  Rs.  395,  so  that  the  total  school  fund  amounts  to 
Rs.  1545.  There  are  also  two  other  small  sums  in  my  hand, 
namely,  Rs.  50,  given  to  sink  a  well  in  the  mission  compound, 
and  Rs.  53,  given  to  purchase  tents.  To  the  mission  is  also 
entrusted  a  poor  fund,  the  monthly  contributions  amounting 
to  between  Rs.  30  and  40,  which  the  missionaries  may  dis- 
tribute according  to  their  best  judgment.  More  than  thirty 

1  Probably  Muramunda. 
7 


98       AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

poor  people  receive  alms  daily  and,  at  the  same  time,  hear 
the  preaching  of  the  Word.  Native  Christian  helpers  we 
have,  at  the  present  time,  none.  Last  year  we  were  obliged 
to  discharge  our  catechist  for  neglect  of  duty.  The  work  at 
the  station  has  never  been  interrupted.  If  one  of  the  mis- 
sionaries was  out  in  the  district,  the  other  remained  at  the 
station.  Though  Brother  Valett  was  obliged  to  leave  the 
station  during  the  hot  season,  I  was  permitted  by  our  good 
Lord  to  remain  and  attend  to  the  duties  here  every  hot 
season  since  my  arrival  in  this  country.  ...  I  am  at  present 
alone  at  this  station  but  hope  that  He  in  whose  work  we  are 
engaged  will  soon  by  your  instrumentality  send  others  to 
help  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil  and  preach  the  cross  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  which  alone  sinners  can  obtain  that 
which  is  needed  to  stand  before  God  and  obtain  peace,  joy 
and  life  eternal." 

Heise's  wish  for  a  co-laborer  was  soon  gratified.  He  was 
joined,  early  in  1852,  by  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Cutter  and  his  wife, 
Margaret,  for  while  Snyder  remained  in  Guntur,  Cutter  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  Rahjahmundry,  where  he  took  charge  of  the 
Anglo-vernacular  school ;  and  Mrs.  Cutter  established  the  first 
girls'  school.  Cutter  worked  so  zealously  that  by  the  end 
of  the  year  five  schools  were  established  with  a  total  enroll- 
ment of  175  pupils;  and  a  Mohammedan  department  was 
added  to  the  English  school,  only,  however,  to  be  almost  im- 
mediately abandoned. 

During  this  period  of  comparatively  rapid  development, 
Heyer,  still  the  missionary  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium, 
was  doing  splendid  work  in  the  Palnad.  To  the  39  converts 
of  his  first  years'  work  he  added  125  before  the  close  of  1850, 
and  soon  thereafter,  in  February,  1851,  realizing  that  the 
growth  of  the  mission  depended  upon  the  training  and  em- 
ployment of  efficient  native  Christian  helpers,  he  reopened  the 
boys'  boarding  school  at  Gurjal  with  12  pupils.  The  First 
English  Lutheran  Church,  Pittsburgh,  to  whose  Sunday  school 
he  had  written  about  this  school,  sent  $50  for  the  education 
of  two  of  the  boarding  boys,  stipulating  that  the  beneficiaries 
were  to  bear  the  names  of  Martin  Luther  and  William  Passa- 


THE    FIELD    OF    THE    FOREIGN   MISSIONARY    SOCIETY      99 

vant.  Similar  conditions,  though  odd  enough,  itmust  be 
admitted,  were  not  infrequently  attached  to  gifts  for  the  sup- 
port of  boys  or  girls  in  mission  schools.  Heyer  simply  added 
the  desired  names  to  the  baptismal  names  of  his  pupils,  calling 
one  John  Martin  Luther  and  the  other  William  Barnabas 
Passavant. 

Another  significant  thing  that  Heyer  did,  in  1851,  was  to 
translate  Luther's  Small  Catechism  into  Telugu,  of  which  a 
small  edition  was  printed  in  Madras.  Hastening  to  Guntur 
to  be  with  the  dying  Gunn  during  the  last  days  of  his  life  on 
earth,  he  returned  to  Gurjal  immediately  after  the  funeral. 

Three  girls  were  admitted  to  the  boarding  school  in  the 
fall  of  1851,  for  whose  support  Miss  Harriet  Weyman  of 
Pittsburgh  contributed  $50  annually  for  a  number  of  years. 
At  the  opening  of  the  new  school-year  in  January,  1852,  the 
boarding  school  enrolled  21  pupils.  Heyer  conducted  the 
school  in  his  little  house  in  Gurjal.  It  is  difficult  to  under- 
stand how,  with  the  meagre  accommodations,  it  was  possible 
for  him  to  do  so. 

His  work  in  the  Palnad  district  ended  in  February,  1853. 
In  four  years  he  had  baptized  no  less  than  243  persons,1  nearly 
all  of  them  being  of  the  weaver  and  farmer  castes;  35  adults 
were  counted  as  communicants.  In  Gurjal,  Polepalli,  Vel- 
durti  and  Macherla  small  schoolhouses  built  of  stone  at  an 
average  cost  of  $40  each  had  been  erected.  The  lots  were 
enclosed  by  stone  walls  and  used  in  part  as  Christian  ceme- 
teries. In  eight  other  villages  schools  had  been  more  or  less 
regularly  conducted,  all  of  which  were  attended  by  Christian 
children  only,  "the  children  of  heathen  parents  not  being 
excluded  but  excluding  themselves."  All  of  the  seven  school 
teachers  employed  were  Christian  converts,  as  were  also  the 
catechist  and  the  two  colporteurs  of  the  district. 

At  the  suggestion  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  The  For- 

1  Recorded  as  follows:  Polepalli,  February  12,  1849,  22  persons;  May  27, 
1849,  u;  Veldurti,  September  23d,  4;  Gurjal,  October  5th,  2;  Polepalli,  Decem- 
ber 15,  1850,  29;  Kolacotta,  December  isth,  22;  Veldurti,  December  i7th, 
44;  Macherla,  December  igth,  30;  Polepalli,  April  13,  1851,  i;  Gurjal,  April 
27th,  4;  Veldurti,  February  20,  1852,  i;  Polepalli,  February  22d,  8;  Gurjal, 
June  27th,  18;  Adigopula,  August  29th,  19;  Macherla,  September  26th,  13; 
Gurjal,  December  aStb,  6;  Polepalli,  January  15,  1853,  9. 


100    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

eign  Missionary  Society  the  missionaries,  five  in  number, 
met  and  organized  on  January  31,  1853,  in  Guntur,  the  first 
"Lutheran  Synod  in  India"  for  mutual  counsel  and  encour- 
agement. Heyer  was  elected  president  and  Snyder  secretary. 
The  synod  decided  that  Heyer  and  Groenning  should  exchange 
stations.  Heyer,  therefore,  remained  in  Guntur  and  Groen- 
ning, on  February  i4th,  moved  to  Gurjal. 

Mrs.  Gunn  had  not  left  India  after  the  death  of  her  hus- 
band but  had  remained  in  Guntur,  at  the  call  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee,  to  retain  charge  of  the  girls'  school  at  one- 
half  the  salary  paid  her  deceased  husband,  thus  becoming  the 
first  regularly  called  and  salaried  woman  missionary  of  the 
American  Evangelical  Lutheran  Mission  in  India.  Her  school 
enrolled  forty  girls  to  whom  she  imparted  the  elements  of 
knowledge,  the  truths  of  Christianity  and  some  proficiency  in 
the  art  of  sewing.  She  managed  the  school  for  a  little  more 
than  a  year  and  then  returned  to  the  United  States,  Mrs. 
Groenning  succeeding  her.  After  Mrs.  Groenning  left  with 
her  husband  for  the  Palnad  district,  Mrs.  Snyder  took  charge 
and  was  the  manager  of  the  school  for  a  year  and  a  half,  until 
she  died  at  Guntur,  September  3,  1854. 

Ten  years  had  now  elapsed  since  Heyer  had  established 
the  mission  in  Guntur,  and  he  was  -again  in  charge  of  that 
station;  but  the  progress  had  been  so  slow  that  only  fifteen 
adult  communicants  belonged  to  the  congregation.  One 
hundred  and  fifty  pupils  were  enrolled  in  six  schools,  and  eight 
teachers,  all  Christians,  were  employed.1  The  mission 
property  in  Guntur  consisted  of  the  house  which  Gunn  had 
built,  valued  at  $650,  another  missionary's  bungalow,  pur- 
chased for  $760,  a  chapel  costing  $200,  and  two  schoolhouses, 
each  worth  about  $25. 

Heyer  had  brought  four  of  the  boys  from  his  Gurjal  board- 
ing school  to  Guntur,  and  with  these,  together  with  three 
from  Guntur,  he  began  the  first  regular  boarding  school  for 
boys  in  Guntur. 

1  Stephen  had  charge  of  the  Telugu  school  in  the  mission  house.  Aaron 
was  his  assistant.  Peter  taught  the  school  at  Nevalikanner,  Ezra  at  Kot- 
lamur,  Simeon  at  Moparti.  Rebecca,  the  wife  of  Stephen,  and  Walter  were 
employed  in  the  girls'  school. 


THE    FIELD    OF    THE    FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    SOCIETY       IOI 

Although  Mr.  Stokes  no  longer  resided  in  Guntur,  having 
been  appointed  Collector  at  Madras,  he  continued  to  con- 
tribute regularly  to  the  mission,  offering,  in  1853,  to  give 
Rs.  1000  toward  the  erection  of  two  suitable  bungalows 
for  missionaries  in  the  Palnad  district,  one  to  be  located 
at  Polepalli,  and  each  to  cost  approximately  Rs.  1500, 
provided  a  second  missionary  were  stationed  in  the  dis- 
trict. His  condition  could  not  be  met  and  his  offer  was 
withdrawn. 

On  January  i,  1854,  all  of  the  missionaries  met  in  Rajah- 
mundry  to  attend  the  second  meeting  of  the  "Synod,"  which 
was  opened  with  a  service  and  sermon  in  Telugu  by  Rev.  C.  W. 
Groenning,  most  appropriately  based  on  John  6:27.  The  five 
foreign  missionaries  and  fourteen  native  Christians  partook  of 
the  holy  communion.  It  is  more  than  likely,  although  not 
expressly  recorded,  that  some  of  these  natives  Christians  had 
accompanied  the  missionaries  from  Guntur  and  the  Palnad, 
for  there  were  not  yet  so  many  adult  communicants  con- 
nected with  the  Rajahmundry  congregation.  In  the  after- 
noon another  Telugu  service  was  held,  Rev.  C.  F.  Heyer 
preaching  the  sermon.  The  business  session  began  the  next 
morning  and  continued  until  Thursday  morning.  Groenning 
was  elected  president  and  Cutter  secretary.  In  his  report 
Heyer  recommended  that  steps  be  taken  to  unite  all  Lutheran 
missionaries  hi  India  in  one  general  synod,  a  proposal  which 
is  still,  after  more  than  fifty  years,  a  consummation  devoutly 
to  be  wished.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  following  lit- 
urgy was  adopted  as  the  one  to  be  used  everywhere  in  the 
mission:  i.  Hymn.  2.  Prayer,  kneeling.  3.  Scripture  lesson. 
4.  Hymn.  5.  Sermon.  6.  Hymn.  7.  Prayer,  standing.  8. 
Benediction.  Three  young  native  Christians  were  recom- 
mended for  training  as  catechists  and  future  pastors,  namely: 
Chinsa  Ramurdu  of  Rajahmundry,  aged  twenty- two;  William 
Barnabas  Passavant  of  the  Palnad,  aged  sixteen;  and  Joseph 
of  Guntur,  aged  fourteen. 

The  following  table  of  statistics  was  prepared  and  sent  to 
The  Foreign  Missionary  Society.  It  gives  a  bird's-eye  view 
of  the  whole  mission  at  the  close  of  the  year  1853 : 


102    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

Boarding     Other 
Baptisms1     Schools    Schools 


o 

stations 

tmunicar 

m 

a 
I 

v\ 

r= 

1 

£ 

1 

3 

^_t 

H 

3 

•73 

n. 

^4 

a 

-. 

3 

CO 

O 

a 

< 

u 

q    "tj 
i-J     OO 

£ 

Q 

cu 

± 

Guntur  

I 

i 

,» 

1C 

Q 

I      i 

6 

6 

140 

TO 

Rajahmundry  

I 

2 

i? 

I 

o 

4     ° 

o 

8 

225 

Q 

Palnad.. 

.   I 

10 

^6 

I 

2 

4     I 

it 

6 

70 

6 

Totals 3     13     84     17     ii     9     2     21     20    435     25 

Heyer  became  the  Rajahmundry  missionary  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year  1855.  He  was  joined  by  Snyder  in  February, 
Cutter  going  to  Guntur  to  assist  Groenning  with  the  work 
there  and  in  the  Palnad,  which  was  left  without  a  resident 
missionary.  Heise  left  on  furlough  April  i,  1855,  on  account 
of  protracted  illness  after  a  trip  of  three  weeks  in  a  steamboat, 
one  hundred  and  forty  miles  up  the  Godavery  River,  as  the 
guest  of  Col.  Cotton. 

The  minutes  of  the  third  annual  meeting  of  the  First 
Lutheran  Synod  in  India,  held  in  Guntur,  February  3,  1855, 
refer  to  a  terrible  epidemic  in  the  Palnad  during  the  hot 
season  of  1854,  and  to  the  death  of  10  Christians  from  this 
dreadful  disease.  Other  deaths  recorded  were  those  of  Emily, 
infant  daughter  of  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Snyder,  in  May;  Walter 
Gunn,  infant  son  of  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Cutter,  in  June;  and  Mrs. 
Snyder  in  September.  The  minutes  also  contain  a  resolution, 
recommending  an  allowance  of  $5  a  month  for  each  child  of 
a  missionary  until  it  had  reached  the  age  of  twelve  years, 
and  a  fixed  allowance  to  each  missionary  for  furniture.  The 
appointment  of  a  treasurer  in  India  was  recommended.  It 
had  been  the  practice  of  the  Executive  Committee  up  to 
this  time  to  send  its  remittances  through  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wins- 
low  of  Madras,  the  agent  of  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions. 

The  growth  of  the  Mission  during  the  year  1854  may  be 

1The  whole  number  of  baptisms  in  Guntur  from  the  beginning  to  July 
1854,  was  104. 


COCOANUT  PALMS   IN   INDIA 


A  MANGO  TREE 


CUTTING  A  BUNCH  OF  BANANAS 


A    BANYAN    TREE 

The   elephant   under  this  tree  gives  a   good   idea  of  the   size   of  the  tree  with   its 
numerous   aerial    roots. 


THE    FIELD    OF    THE    FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    SOCIETY       103 

noted  by  comparing  the  preceding  table  of  statistics  with  the 
following  one: 

Baptisms        Schools/or     Pupils    Teachers 


| 

oJ 

I 

3 

ommunica 

S 

3 

Tl 

§ 
2 
'J3 

en 

1 

O 

en       e« 

0*     S 

en 

tn 

4) 

15 

w 
•3 

s 

0 

U 

U 

PQ    C 

PQ 

O 

S 

fa 

Guntur  

.     ...         I 

32 

o 

7 

2 

6     i 

7o 

20 

6 

_ 

Rajahmundry  

2 

14 

7 

•z 

I 

8     i 

176 

27 

8 

j 

Palnad.. 

.     IO 

4O 

6 

12 

6    o 

<;? 

7 

6 

n 

Totals 13     86    9     16     15     20     2        301     54        20     2 

The  receipts  in  India  for  the  year,  exclusive  of  the  mis- 
sionaries' salaries,  were  Rs.  1031;  the  expenditures,  Rs.  1116; 
and  the  estimated  expenses  for  the  coming  year  were  Rs.  2100. 
The  salaries  of  the  missionaries  amounted  to  $3200,  the 
average  for  each  missionary  being  $650  a  year. 

While  the  congregation  in  Guntur  was  larger  than  the  one 
in  Rajahmundry,  the  educational  work  in  the  latter  place  was 
more  promising  than  in  the  former.  Heyer  was  the  manager 
of  the  Anglo-vernacular  school  which  enrolled  68  pupils  in 
1855,  and  Snyder  was  the  manager  of  the  Telugu  schools,  one 
of  which  was  a  girls'  school  in  charge  of  Susanna  Lavel,  a  con- 
vert, the  wife  of  Chinsa  Ramurdu,  a  Brahmin.  Unfortunately, 
this  first  native  Christian  female  teacher  died  in  September, 
1855.  Heyer  also  established  a  boys'  boarding  school  for  the 
training  of  native  workers,  beginning  with  three  boys  who 
had  followed  him  from  Guntur,  William  Barnabas  Passavant, 
John  Martin  Luther  and  Enoch,  who,  as  the  beneficiaries  of 
the  Sunday  school  of  the  First  Lutheran  Church  of  Pitts- 
burgh, remained  under  his  personal  care  and  supervision,  and 
two  boys  from  Rajahmundry,  Jacob  and  Peeru. 

Snyder  remained  in  Rajahmundry  only  a  short  tune.  A 
physical  collapse,  subsequent  to  his  heroic  but  unsuccessful 
effort  to  save  the  life  of  William  Barnabas  Passavant,  who 
was  drowned  in  a  tank  in  Rajahmundry,  forced  him  to  leave 
India,  March  24,  1856.  About  two  months  earlier  Cutter 
with  his  wife  and  children  had  left  Guntur  on  account  of 


104    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

Mrs.  Cutter's  serious  nervous  depression.  They  reached 
New  York  May  30,  1856,  and  Snyder  landed  there  about 
two  months  later.  Only  two  missionaries  remained  in  India, 
Heyer  at  Rajahmundry  and  Groenning  at  Guntur. 

A  loss  as  serious  as  that  of  any  missionary  was  the 
departure  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stokes  for  England  in  1856. 
Writing  from  Denver,  Norfolk,  England,  under  date  of 
August  31,  1856,  Mr.  Stokes  assured  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  The  Foreign  Mission  Society  of  his  continued 
interest  in  its  Telugu  Mission,  encouraged  it  to  send  more 
missionaries  and  money,  and  relieved  it  of  every  financial  in- 
debtedness to  him.  The  committee  frequently  corresponded 
with  him  in  England,  consulted  him  about  the  Mission  and 
received  both  advice  and  contributions;  but  his  interest  was 
gradually  absorbed  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  of 
which  he  became  an  ardent  supporter.  He  died  in  England 
in  1889. 

If  we  seek  for  the  causes  of  the  comparatively  slow  prog- 
ress of  the  Telugu  Mission  during  the  first  decade,  we  find 
them,  first  of  all,  in  the  small  force  of  foreign  missionaries 
and  the  meagre  financial  support  of  the  Church  in  America. 
Had  not  the  English  residents  in  Guntur,  led  by  Collector 
Stokes,  and  in  Rajahmundry,  by  Colonel  Cotton,  generously 
supported  the  missionaries,  especially  in  the  educational 
work,  the  results  would,  indeed,  have  been  insignificant.  To 
what  extent  the  English  residents  in  Guntur  aided  the  mis- 
sionaries there  and  in  the  Palnad  has  already  been  told. 
What  part  the  English  residents  in  Rajahmundry  took  in  the 
mission  work  may  be  observed  from  the  fact  that  of  Rs.  1300 
required  in  1854  for  the  work  at  that  station,  Rs.  1000  were 
contributed  by  Colonel  Cotton  and  others,  leaving  a  balance 
of  only  Rs.  300  (about  $125)  to  be  provided  from  America. 
Nor  was  that  an  exceptional  year.  Every  year  the  contri- 
butions were  proportionately  the  same.  It  is  really  surpris- 
ing how  little,  apart  from  the  salaries  of  the  missionaries,  The 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  spent  on  the  Rajahmundry  work. 

Besides  their  contributions  in  money,  the  English  resi- 
dents sought  to  aid  the  missionaries  by  demanding  of  their 


THE    FIELD    OF    THE    FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    SOCIETY       105 

servants  regular  attendance  at  the  Telugu  services  conducted 
by  the  missionaries;  but  the  minds  and  hearts  of  such  attend- 
ants did  not  prove  to  be  good  ground.  In  1853  the  con- 
straint was  removed  from  the  native  servants  in  Rajahmim- 
dry  and,  probably  also,  in  Guntur,  and  though  the  attendance 
at  the  Telugu  services  was  decreased,  those  who  attended 
came  voluntarily,  and  the  number  of  converts  increased  more 
rapidly  thereafter. 

Another  cause  for  the  slow  increase  of  the  number  of 
converts  was  the  practical  confinement  of  evangelistic  work 
to  the  towns  of  Guntur  and  Rajahmundry.  In  the  Palnad, 
where  most  converts  were  made,  the  missionary  toured 
the  district;  but  the  Guntur  and  Rajahmundry  missionaries, 
obliged  to  look  after  their  school  work,  rarely  went  out  into 
the  villages  of  the  surrounding  districts  to  preach.  More- 
over, there  were  no  native  helpers  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
foreign  missionary  or  to  follow  up  his  work  when  he  did 
preach  in  the  district;  and  without  competent  native  assist- 
ance district  work  is  practically  fruitless.  At  first  the  mis- 
sionaries did  a  good  deal  of  preaching  in  the  bazaars  and 
streets  of  Guntur  and  Rajahmundry,  speaking  to  any  crowd 
which  might  be  attracted  and  gathered  about  them;  but  they 
gradually  discontinued  this  practice  as  unsatisfactory  and 
relied  more  upon  the  educational  work  as  an  evangelizing 
agency,  inasmuch  as  the  children  of  Hindu,  as  well  as  of  Chris- 
tian parentage,  attending  the  schools,  received  instruction 
in  Bible  truths  and  facts. 

Before  the  missionaries  could  hope  for  any  extensive 
success,  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  raise  up,  train  and  em- 
ploy a  numerous  band  of  competent  native  Christian  helpers 
—teachers,  evangelists  and  catechists — to  work  with  the  mis- 
sionary and,  in  his  absence,  under  his  general  oversight  and 
supervision.  Heyer,  as  we  have  noticed,  was  the  founder  of 
the  boarding  schools  for  Christian  boys,  which  are  training- 
schools  for  native  workers,  in  the  Palnad,  in  Guntur  and  in 
Rajahmundry;  but  many  years  were  to  elapse  before  these 
schools  furnished  native  helpers  in  any  considerable  number 
and  of  any  competent  ability.  The  first  teachers  employed 


106    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

by  Heyer  and  Gunn  were  Hindus,  the  missionaries  supple- 
menting the  instruction  by  devoting  several  hours  daily  to 
the  teaching  of  Christian  truth.  The  Christian  teachers  who 
were  engaged  at  first,  were  recent  converts,  raw  material, 
uneducated  men,  untrained  workers,  even  though  sincere  and 
faithful  Christians.  Little  could  be  expected  of  them,  and 
they  accomplished  little. 

Nevertheless,  for  the  time  and  energy  expended,  the 
American  Evangelical  Lutheran  Mission  in  the  Telugu 
country  showed  as  good  results  as  any  other  mission  in  South 
India  during  the  first  decade  of  its  history. 


CHAPTER  X 

A  PERIOD  OF  TRIALS — HEYER  LEAVES  THE  MISSION 

AMONG  the  Hindu  girls  who  attended  the  Guntur  Girls' 
School  in  the  early  fifties  was  Ruth.  The  Christian  teachings 
made  a  profound  impression  upon  her;  but  her  parents  bit- 
terly opposed  her  baptism.  Despite  their  opposition  she  pre- 
sented herself  for  baptism  in  1853,  and  Heyer  administered 
the  sacrament.  Then  Ruth's  parents  agitated  against  the 
school  and  most  of  the  Hindu  pupils  were  withdrawn ;  but  the 
school  survived  the  ordeal,  and,  in  1856,  Ruth  was  appointed 
a  teacher;  and  three  other  girls,  Christine,  Marie  and  Lydia, 
were  baptized  by  Groenning. 

Hardly  had  the  agitation  over  their  baptism  subsided, 
when  the  Brahmin  community  was  profoundly  stirred  by  the 
conversion  of  one  of  their  number,  the  first  convert  of  that 
caste,  in  1856.  The  immediate  result  of  the  hostility  of  the 
Brahmins  was  the  withdrawal  of  thirty  pupils  from  the 
English  Boys'  School,  reducing  the  attendance  to  forty.  The 
Brahmins  sent  in  a  petition  for  a  Government  School,  but  the 
Inspector,  Mr.  William  McDonald,  favored  the  Mission 
School  and  offered  Groenning  a  grant-in-aid  of  Rs.  200  a 
month,  if  he  would  secre  a  qualified  English  headmaster 
and  Rs.  100  were  expended  each  month  for  teachers'  salaries 
and  apparatus.  Groenning  at  once  submitted  the  offer  of  the 
Inspector  to  the  Executive  Committee  in  America  with  his 
favorable  recommendation,  suggesting  that  the  Rev.  William 
E.  Snyder,  then  on  furlough,  be  appointed  headmaster. 
Snyder  had  fully  recovered  his  health  and  expressed  his 
willingness  to  accept  the  appointment;  but  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  The  Foreign  Mission  Society,  influenced  by  the 
adverse  attitude  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
toward  the  acceptance  of  government  grants,  was  disposed 

107 


I08    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

to  withhold  its  approval.  Groenning  argued  that  the  Christian 
character  and  aim  of  the  school  would  in  no  wise  be  jeopard- 
ized by  the  acceptance  of  government  grant  and  requested 
that  the  final  decision  be  left  to  the  missionaries  in  the  field. 
Heyer  sided  with  Groenning,  and  the  Executive  Committee 
reluctantly  yielded  and  sent  Snyder  back  to  take  charge  of 
the  school.  Snyder  formally  applied  for  the  grant  in  August, 
1858,  and  obtained  the  Rs.  200  a  month  promised  by  the 
Inspector,  and  the  recognition  of  the  government,  which  went 
with  it. 

Similar  efforts  were  made  by  Heyer  in  behalf  of  the  Anglo- 
vernacular  school  at  Rajahmundry.  Mr.  McDonald  visited 
his  school  in  November,  1856,  and  encouraged  him  to  apply 
for  grant-in-aid.  He  did  this  in  the  following  language: 
"If  government  will  allow  Rs.  150  a  month  and  can  get  a 
trained  man  from  England  for  this  compensation,  it  will 
answer  our  purpose;  but  as  it  appears  difficult  to  get  teachers 
from  England,  I  promise  to  get  an  A.  M.  or  an  A.  B.  from 
America.  This  gentleman,  who  may  or  may  not  be  an  or- 
dained minister,  will  share  the  management  of  the  school 
with  the  missionary;  but  the  missionary  must  always  be 
regarded  as  the  principal  of  the  school."  Heyer  failed  to 
secure  a  man  from  America,  and  the  government  proceeded 
to  establish  a  school  of  its  own  at  Rajahmundry.  Thus, 
early  in  the  history  of  the  Rajahmundry  Mission,  it  was 
handicapped  in  its  educational  work  by  competition  with  a 
government  school. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  to  the  General  Synod,  con- 
vened in  Trinity  Church,  Reading,  Pa.,  May,  1857,  the  mis- 
sion property  in  Guntur  then  consisted  of  about  five  acres  of 
ground,  on  which  two  mission  houses,  a  chapel,  a  school  and 
teachers'  houses  had  been  built.  The  Telugu  schools  at  the 
end  of  the  year  1856  numbered  six,  only  one  of  which  was 
conducted  outside  of  the  limits  of  Guntur.  Two  Telugu  ser- 
vices on  Sunday  and  one  during  the  week  were  usually  held 
in  the  town.  A  Sunday  school  for  boys  had  been  started 
during  the  year.  Nine  native  Christian  teachers  were  under 


A    PERIOD    OF    TRIALS — HEYER    LEAVES    THE    MISSION       109 

employment,  one  of  whom,  Nathaniel,  was  being  prepared 
for  the  holy  ministry.  The  expense  of  the  Girls'  Boarding 
School,  by  strict  economy,  amounted  to  only  Rs.  30,  less  than 
$15  a  month.  Apart  from  the  salaries  paid  the  missionaries, 
the  work  in  Guntur  cost  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
during  the  year  1856,  about  Rs.  800,  less  than  $400;  and  in 
the  Palnad  district,  Rs.  1091,  less  than  $500.  Groenning, 
living  in  Guntur,  had  charge  of  the  work  in  the  Palnad,  where 
five  native  Christian  teachers  were  employed:  John  at  Kola- 
gutla,  Jacob  at  Pillutla,  Samuel  at  Veldurti,  Simeon  at  Adi- 
gopula,  Joseph  at  Macherla. 

In  Rajahmundry  and  its  vicinity  there  were  seven  schools. 
One  of  the  native  Christian  teachers,  Philip,  spent  part  of 
his  time  as  colporteur,  selling  and  distributing  Bibles,  Testa- 
ments and  tracts.  His  salary  was  paid  by  Mr.  H.  Newill,  the 
collector,  who,  Heyer  wrote,  "in  some  measure  took  the 
place  of  Mr.  Stokes."  Five  persons  were  baptized  by  Heyer  in 
1856:  Peter,  Barnabas,  Eliza  and  two  infants.  The  adult 
communicants  numbered  21,  the  pupils  in  the  girls'  school,  32. 
To  Miss  H.  Weyman,  Pittsburgh,  Heyer  wrote  concerning  the 
Girls'  School,  May  15,  1856: 

"Our  Girls'  School  at  Rajahmundry  is  in  part  supported 
by  what  has  been  sent  from  Miss  A.'s  mission  box.  We  have 
at  present  two  teachers  and  thirty- two  scholars.  One  of  the 
teachers  is  a  young  woman,  not  long  married,  who  can  teach 
Telugu  reading  and  writing,  the  multiplication  table  and 
plain  sewing.  Beyond  these  branches  we  do  not  attempt  to 
go  at  present.  Her  name  is  Ruth.  The  other  teacher  is  an 
elderly,  motherly  woman  who  was  baptized  about  two  years 
ago.  She  suffered  persecution  from  her  heathen  relatives, 
and  her  husband  would  not  allow  her  to  return  to  his  house, 
because  she  had  become  a  Christian.  However,  a  young  man 
who  is  married  to  her  daughter  provided  lodgings,  and  she 
has  been  living  in  his  family  ever  since.  Of  her  own  accord 
she  commenced  learning  the  letters  of  the  Telugu  alphabet, 
and,  being  encouraged  to  go  on,  she  has  since  learned  to  read 
and  is  now  able  to  teach  the  smaller  children.  Her  name  is 
Joanna.  She  is  a  quiet,  unassuming  person,  who  acts  a  moth- 


110    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

erly  part  toward  the  younger  teacher  and  all  the  children 
in  the  school.  The  first  class  contains  twelve;  the  second, 
nine;  and  the  third,  eleven  children.  Perhaps  you  will  be 
amused  at  some  of  the  strange  names.  The  ages  of  the 
scholars  are  from  five  to  fourteen  years.  Some  of  the  older 
and  larger  pupils  have  commenced  patch-work  for  quilts 
and  appear  to  be  pleased  with  the  variety  of  colors  which 
they  are  putting  together.  They  are  generally  as  lively  and 
happy  as  little  ducks.  The  eldest  girl  in  the  school  is  an  ap- 
plicant for  baptism." 

As  early  as  1854,  while  missionary  at  Guntur,  Heyer 
begged  for  permission  to  return  to  the  United  States,  plead- 
ing that,  although  he  was  enjoying  good  health,  he  was  be- 
ginning to  feel  the  approach  of  old  age.  As  an  alternative 
he  proposed  the  sending  out  of  a  young  man  as  his  assistant, 
suggesting  a  reduction  of  his  salary  by  $100  to  be  applied  to 
that  of  the  younger  man.  The  Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania 
to  which  he  addressed  his  communication,  at  its  meeting  in 
1854,  refused  to  permit  Heyer's  return  and  postponed  the 
consideration  of  his  proposal.  When  Heyer  was  transferred 
to  Rajahmundry,  Heise  left  it  on  furlough.  The  latter  ex- 
pected to  return  to  the  field  in  1856,  when  the  former  hoped 
to  be  allowed  to  take  his  furlough.  Heise,  however,  was 
asked  by  the  Executive  Committee  to  come  to  America  from 
Germany  and  present  his  cause  in  the  churches  here.  He 
came,  accompanied  by  his  bride,  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Fordhammer  of  Holstein,  Germany,  whom  he  married  on 
October  10,  1856.  They  spent  several  months  in  the  United 
States.  Concerning  his  visit  the  Executive  Committee 
reported:  "The  visit  of  Brother  Heise  to  this  country  was  a 
happy  circumstance.  The  man,  his  spirit,  his  modesty,  his 
mental  and  missionary  endowments,  his  zeal,  his  unwearied 
toil,  proved  him  to  be  the  man  for  his  calling.  Not  unlike 
Dr.  Duff  he  passed  from  city  to  city  and  from  city  to  country, 
everywhere  enlightening  and  gratifying  crowded  audiences 
and  infusing  a  new  missionary  spirit.  With  his  excellent, 
pious  and  amiable  wife  he  blessed  every  home  he  visited,  leav- 
ing behind  endearments  of  the  purest  character,  creating  solic- 


A   PERIOD    OF    TRIALS — HEYER    LEAVES    THE    MISSION      III 

itude  for  their  well-being  and  for  the  furtherance  of  the  holy 
cause  in  which  they  are  engaged.  His  visit  would  seem 
to  have  marked  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  our  foreign 
mission." 

They  left  New  York  May  5,  1857,  sailing  by  way  of  South- 
ampton, England,  for  India,  reaching  Madras  on  September  3, 
1857,  and  Rajahmundry  on  January  18,  1858. 

Heyer  had  chafed  under  the  delay  of  Heise's  return  to 
India.  In  a  letter  to  Rev.  William  E.  Snyder,  written  in 
January,  1857,  he  said:  "If  someone  does  not  come  soon  to 
take  my  place,  I  suppose  I  must  give  over  charge  to  Captain 
Taylor."  The  Executive  Committee  replied  that  it  would 
raise  no  objection  to  his  "relinquishing  his  connection  with  the 
mission  and  returning  home,  if  he  pleased,"  immediately  after 
the  missionaries  to  be  sent  to  India  "had  been  comfortably 
established."  But  Heyer  did  not  wait.  Packing  his  goods 
and  leaving  Captain  Taylor  in  charge  at  Rajahmundry,  he 
took  passage  in  the  steamer  "Bentinck"  bound  for  the  Red 
Sea.  The  first  intimation  which  the  Executive  Committee 
seems  to  have  had  of  his  leaving  the  mission  was  in  a  letter 
written  on  board  the  steamer  in  the  Red  Sea  near  Mt.  Sinai, 
dated  May  4,  1857.  It  was  addressed  to  the  Sunday  school 
children  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America.  "In  one  of  my 
late  communications,"  he  wrote,  "it  was  stated  that  it  would 
not  be  advisable  for  me,  on  account  of  ill-health,  to  remain 
another  hot  season  in  India,  and  that  I  indulged  the  hope, 
before  the  end  of  1857,  to  have  the  pleasure  of  visiting  some  of 
the  schools  and  congregations  in  America,  who  give  and  pray 
for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen.  After  some  hesitation 
and  planning  the  way  seemed  to  be  made  plain,  and  on  the  i5th 
of  April,  when  the  hot  season  had  already  commenced,  I  em- 
barked at  Madras  in  the  steamer  ' Bentinck'  for  Suez  in 
Egypt.  The  Lord  willing,  we  shall  reach  Suez  on  the  6th  or 
7th  of  May.  From  thence  across  the  isthmus  to  Cairo  we 
are  to  go  in  stages,  called  vans,  each  carrying  six  persons  and 
drawn  by  four  horses.  If  time  permits,  I  shall  go  nine  miles 
to  the  south  of  Cairo  to  have  a  look  at  the  pyramids.  From 
Cairo  to  Alexandria  the  passengers  are  carried  in  railroad 


112    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL   LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

cars.  My  intention,  at  present,  is  to  go  from  Alexandria  to 
Jerusalem,  Bethlehem,  the  Dead  Sea,  etc.  Then,  by  way 
of  Constantinople  and  Trieste  to  Germany,  to  visit  the 
place  of  my  nativity;  and  I  hope  to  meet  an  only  surviv- 
ing brother,  whom  I  have  not  seen  for  nearly  half  a  century. 
If  life  and  health  be  spared,  I  shall  probably  embark  at 
Hamburg  or  Bremen  during  August,  once  more  to  cross 
the  Atlantic  and  to  return  to  the  land  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty." 

He  landed  at  New  York  on  August  6,  1857,  almost  ten 
years  after  he  had  started  from  America  the  second  time  for 
India,  and  only  three  months  after  Heise  had  left  America. 
Although  he  was  undoubtedly  entitled  to  a  furlough,  he 
should  have  waited  in  India  until  Heise  returned.  His  second, 
like  his  first,  departure  from  the  Mission  was  precipitous. 
Only  one  missionary  remained  in  the  Mission, — Groenning  at 
Guntur.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  faithful  and  efficient  super- 
vision of  Captain  Taylor,  who  looked  after  the  work  for  nearly 
nine  months,  the  Rajahmundry  Mission  might  have  suffered 
irreparable  loss. 

During  the  years  1856  and  1857  the  Executive  Committee 
of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  made  every  endeavor  to 
increase  the  force  of  missionaries.  Arrangements  were  made, 
as  we  have  noted,  for  the  return  of  Heise  and  Snyder,  and  two 
new  missionaries  were  called,  the  Rev.  Erias  Unangst  and  the 
Rev.  Adam  Long.  But  the  society  lacked  sufficient  funds  to 
pay  the  passage  of  all  these  men  to  India.  The  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  was  unsuccessfully  approached  for 
a  loan  of  $1000.  Then  a  strong  appeal  was  sent  out  to  all  the 
churches,  and  the  response  was  so  gratifying  that,  when 
Snyder,  Unangst  and  Long  sailed  from  America  in  the  fall  of 
1857,  the  passage  money,  amounting  in  all  to  $1625,  was 
available. 

Most  of  the  foreign  mission  contributions  continued  to 
come  from  the  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  Hartwick,  and 
Pittsburgh  synods.  The  Minis terium  of  Pennsylvania  regu- 
larly paid  Heyer's  salary  of  $600  a  year  in  advance,  and  a 


A    PERIOD    OF    TRIALS — HEYER    LEAVES    THE    MISSION       113 


General 

Foreign 

Foreign 

Synod 

Mission 

Mission 

Meeting. 

Receipts. 

Expenditures. 

1839 

$2,284.79 

$2,222.79 

1841 

1,265.12 

642.82 

1843 

234.17 

1845 

1,137-39 

1,749-15 

1848 

2,790.41 

3,210.90 

1850 

4,230.42 

4,230.32 

I8S3 

14,486.10 

14,478.12 

1855 

ii,797-oo 

11,485.93 

1857 

12,868.33 

12,434.04 

1859 

11,876.18 

11,697.64 

number  of  its  congregations1  contributed  toward  the  support 
of  school-work. 

The  following  table  is  interesting  as  an  index  of  the  foreign 
mission  activity  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America  for  the 
twenty  years  from  1839  to  1859: 


Supported. 

Rhenius,  Palamcotta. 
Guetzlaff,  Heyer. 

Gunn,  Guntur. 
Gunn  and  Heyer. 
Gunn,  Heyer,  Martz. 
Guntur,  Rajahmundry. 
Guntur,  Palnad,  Rajahmundry 
Guntur,  Palnad,  Rajahmundry. 
Guntur,  Palnad,  Rajahmundry. 


The  increase  of  receipts  from  the  year  1853  onward  was 
due  largely  to  the  greater  efficiency  of  the  home  administra- 
tion. In  1851  the  Rev.  G.  A.  Lintner,  of  Schoharie,  N.  Y., 
was  appointed  General  Agent  for  The  Foreign  Missionary 
Society.  In  1853  the  society  at  its  meeting  in  connection 
with  the  General  Synod,  at  Winchester,  Va.,  combined  the 
offices  of  General  Agent  and  Corresponding  Secretary,  elect- 
ing the  incumbent  of  the  latter  to  nil  the  new  position  at  a 
salary  of  $700  annually.  Resigning  his  charge  at  Brunswick, 
N.  Y.,  November  15,  1853,  the  Rev.  J.  Z.  Senderling  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  the  new  office;  but  on  January  21,  1856, 
when  the  society  was  financially  embarrassed,  he  resigned  as 
General  Agent  and  accepted  a  call  to  the  church  at  Johnstown, 
N.  Y.  He  continued,  however,  to  serve  as  a  member  of  the 
Executive  Committee  and  as  the  corresponding  secretary 
of  the  Society. 

1  The  most  liberal  contributors  were  St.  John's,  Easton,  the  Revs.  Dr.  J.  W. 
Richards  and  C.  F.  Schaeffer  pastors;  St.  Michael's  and  Zion's,  Philadelphia, 
the  Revs.  Dr.  Demme,  Reichert  and  Mann  pastors;  Trinity,  Pottsville,  the 
Rev.  W.  G.  Mennig  pastor;  the  Swamp  Church,  the  Rev.  N.  Yeager  pastor; 
Trinity,  Reading,  the  Rev.  F.  A.  M.  Keller  pastor;  and  Trinity,  Kutztown. 
the  Rev.  G.  A.  Hinterleitner  pastor. 

8 


CHAPTER  XI 

DR.    HEYER    A    HOME    MISSIONARY    IN    MINNESOTA 

IN  Father  Heyer  we  have  an  incarnation  of  the  inner 
unity  of  Home  and  Foreign  Missions.  When  he  was  not  a 
foreign  missionary  he  was  a  home  missionary.  He  returned 
from  India  and  the  work  of  converting  heathen  to  an  out- 
lying, newly  settled  district  in  the  United  States  to  gather 
scattered  and  neglected  members  of  the  Church  and  organize 
them  into  congregations;  and  he  was  as  successful  in  the  one 
as  in  the  other  sphere  of  activity. 

After  his  second  return  from  India,  Heyer  visited  his 
children  and  grandchildren  in  Somerset,  Pa.,  and  waited  for 
the  hand  of  God  to  direct  him  to  some  field  of  labor  in  the 
United  States.  He  had  not  long  to  wait. 

Minnesota  was  then  a  newly  settled  territory  to  which 
many  Germans  and  Scandinavians  were  migrating.  The  far- 
seeing  eye  of  the  Rev.  William  A.  Passavant,  D.D.  observed 
this  migration,  and  his  sensitive  ear  caught  the  sound  of  the 
call  of  his  brethren  according  to  the  faith  to  help  them  pre- 
serve and  build  up  the  Church  of  their  fathers  on  the  frontiers. 
At  the  Monday  afternoon  session  of  the  East  Pennsylvania 
Synod  in  St.  John's  Church,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  October  5,  1857, 
Dr.  Passavant,  after  having  presented  the  Orphans'  Home 
cause,  added  a  plea  for  the  scattered  Lutherans  of  Minnesota. 
He  was  a  mighty  advocate  of  any  cause  he  espoused.  The 
synod  enthusiastically  passed  the  following  resolution:  " Re- 
solved, That  five  hundred  dollars  be  appropriated  to  the 
support  of  an  English  Lutheran  mission  in  St.  Paul,  Minn., 
and  that  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Central  Home 
Missionary  Society  of  the  General  Synod  endeavor  to  secure 
a  suitable  man  for  this  important  post."  Dr.  Passavant 
proposed  the  name  of  Dr.  Heyer,  whom  the  synod  at  once 
elected.  The  Central  Home  Missionary  Society  approved 

114 


DR.    HEYER   A    HOME    MISSIONARY    IN    MINNESOTA       11$ 

the  action  of  the  synod  and  commissioned  Heyer  in  November 
of  that  year  to  go  to  St.  Paul,  reorganize  the  church  of  the 
Holy  Trinity  in  that  town  and  do  such  other  mission  work  as 
opportunity  offered.1 

Heyer  reached  St.  Paul  on  November  16,  1857,  and  threw 
himself  with  all  his  vigor  into  the  work.  Before  the  close 
of  the  year  he  had  gathered  seventy  communicants,  Germans 
and  Swedes,  baptized  eight  children  and  organized  a  class  of 
catechumens,  six  of  whom  he  instructed  in  German  and  three 
in  English.  In  January,  1858,  a  site  for  the  church  was  pur- 
chased opposite  the  capitol  building  for  $1500,  Heyer  making 
himself  personally  responsible  for  the  payment  of  two-thirds  of 
the  purchase  price.  Another  lot,  which  ex- Governor  Ramsay 
had  donated  in  1855,  was  sold,  and  the  proceeds  were  devoted 
to  the  building  of  the  basement  of  the  church,  where  the  first 
service  was  held  on  October  17,  1858. 

While  thus  engaged  in  St.  Paul,  Heyer  also  began  mission 
work  elsewhere,  preaching  at  Red  Wing,  Shakopee,  Jordan 
City  and  a  number  of  towns  in  Carver  County;  but  Holy 
Trinity,  St.  Paul,  demanded  the  bulk  of  his  effort.  As  many 
as  three  hundred  attended  the  service  in  that  church  on 
Sunday,  April  24,  1859;  and  the  report  of  the  first  year's 
work  showed  44  baptisms,  16  confirmations  and  109  commu- 
nicants. The  original  intention  of  establishing  an  English 
congregation,  however,  had  to  be  abandoned,  because  most 
of  those  who  were  gathered  were  Germans  and  preferred 
to  be  ministered  to  in  their  mother-tongue.  The  Swedes 
were  cared  for  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Carlsson  and  established  a 
small  congregation  in  1858.  Nevertheless,  Heyer  occasionally 
preached  an  English  sermon,  "to  prepare  the  way  for  some 
younger  brother  to  come  West  and  establish  an  English 
Lutheran  church  in  St.  Paul." 

A  number  of  other  Lutheran  ministers  had  started  mis- 
sions in  other  towns  in  Minnesota,  and  it  was  decided  that 
the  formation  of  a  synod  would  be  advisable.  How  small 

1  In  1855  Rev.  F.  W.  Wier  had  begun  the  establishment  of  a  congregation 
in  St.  Paul  with  the  aid  of  Senator  Alexander  Ramsay,  ex-governor  of  Minne- 
sota. 


Il6    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

was  that  beginning!  Three  Lutheran  missionaries  met  on 
July  i,  1859,  in  Holy  Trinity  Church,  St.  Paul,  and  organized 
by  electing  Heyer  president,  and  Rev.  W.  Thomson  of 
Owatonna,  secretary.  The  third  man  was  Rev.  M.  Mallinson 
of  Minneiska. 

Despite  the  success  of  Heyer  in  St.  Paul,  the  Central  Home 
Missionary  Society  of  the  General  Synod,  because  of  financial 
difficulty,  threatened  to  withdraw  its  support.  Then  Dr. 
Passavant  personally  pledged  $300  toward  Heyer's  salary 
and  so  insured  the  continuation  of  the  work,  which  pros- 
pered and  grew,  insomuch  that  at  the  close  of  the  second 
year  Heyer  reported  49  baptisms,  n  confirmed,  35  received 
otherwise,  130  communed  and  50  Sunday  school  pupils. 

The  second  meeting  of  the  Minnesota  Synod  in  Holy  Trinity 
Church,  St.  Paul,  July  6,  1860,  enrolled  six  clerical  delegates, 
the  three  additional  ones  being  Rev.  F.  W.  Wier,  St.  Paul, 
Rev.  A.  Brandt,  Frank  Hill,  and  Rev.  Charles  Yough,  New 
Oregon.  Heyer,  though  absent,  was  re-elected  president.  He 
had  gone  East  on  a  tour  to  collect  funds  for  the  completion  of 
his  church.  Returning  in  December,  1860,  with  about  $1200, 
he  was  able  to  finish  the  building,  which  was  consecrated  in 
October,  1861. 

After  Heyer  had  installed  Rev.  G.  Fachtmann,  his  suc- 
cessor, as  pastor  of  Holy  Trinity,  St.  Paul,  on  Sunday,  July  13, 
1862,  he  became  the  travelling  missionary  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Mimsterium  in  Minnesota,  with  headquarters  at  Red  Wing. 
Starting  westward  from  there  on  September  nth,  riding  in  a 
prairie  wagon  drawn  by  a  blind  horse,  with  supplies  for  a  long 
journey  and  a  spirit  lamp  on  which  to  cook  his  food,  going 
alone  through  a  region  which  had  but  recently  been  the  scene 
of  an  outbreak  of  Sioux  Indians,  he  travelled  to  the  extreme 
southeastern  corner  of  the  state  and  back  again  to  Red  Wing.1 

1  He  stopped  at  Northfield,  where  in  the  home  of  Mr.  Ludwig  Albrecht 
he  conducted  a  service  attended  by  thirty  Germans;  at  East  Prairie,  where 
Rev.  S.  Wier  was  located;  Warsaw,  then  a  new  settlement  of  less  than  twenty 
houses,  preaching  hi  English;  Owatonna,  Rev.  W.  Thomson,  pastor  loci;  Marion, 
where  the  first  Lutheran  Church  in  Olmstead  County  was  established  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Mallinson;  Hamilton,  where  a  Sunday  service  was  held  by  Heyer  in  a 
country  schoolhouse  about  four  miles  from  the  town;  Brownsville,  which  he 
reached  on  October  2d,  and  where  on  the  following  Sunday  he  held  a  service  in 


DR.    HEYER    A    HOME    MISSIONARY    IN    MINNESOTA       117 

In  December,  1862,  Heyer  went  to  Stillwater,  Minn.,  and 
organized  St.  John's  Church,  confirming  ten  catechumens  and 
administering  the  Lord's  Supper  to  fifty-six  communicants. 
He  left  again  in  the  month  of  February  following,  and  started 
from  Red  Wing  on  another  long  tour.  The  winter  was  an 
unusually  severe  one.  The  lakes  and  streams  were  frozen 
over.  The  snow  was  deep.  On  the  way  to  Centreville  he  lost 
the  trail  and  found  it  again  with  great  difficulty;  and,  again, 
near  Crow  River  he  lost  his  way  in  the  forests  and  had  to 
remain  out  all  night.  He  went  as  far  as  Pelican  Lake.  On 
his  return,  ten  miles  from  Hastings,  he  fell  into  the  water  and 
barely  escaped  death  by  drowning. 

St.  John's,  Stillwater,  made  rapid  progress.  In  May, 
1863,  it  entertained  the  Minnesota  Synod,  and  in  August  that 
year  it  called  a  pastor,  the  Rev.  F.  W.  Hoffmann.  Minnesota 
had  become  an  important  and  very  promising  home  mission 
field,  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium,  which  had  four  home 
missionaries  at  work  there  under  the  general  supervision  of 
Heyer. 

In  1864  Heyer  spent  several  months  in  Somerset,  Pa., 
where  in  May  of  that  year  he  organized  a  German  congrega- 
tion, purchased  an  old  church  property  and  ministered  for  a 
while  to  the  twenty  or  more  German  families  who  joined  in 
the  movement.  He  served  them  without  charge. 

Returning  to  Minnesota  he  concentrated  his  efforts  on 
the  establishment  of  a  congregation  at  New  Ulm,  where  a 
brick  church  was  built  and  consecrated  on  June  17,  1866. 
After  the  Rev.  Mr.  Papp  became  the  regular  pastor  of  this 
flourishing  congregation,  Heyer  planned  to  go  to  St.  Anthony; 
but  an  attack  of  rheumatism  forced  him  to  relinquish  his 
purpose,  and  he  spent  the  winter  of  1866-67  in  Somerset, 
Pa.  Then  an  opportunity  presented  itself  for  a  return 

a  schoolhouse;  Crooked  Creek,  where  he  left  his  prairie  wagon,  walking  back  to 
Brownsville  to  take  a  boat  to  La  Crescent;  La  Crosse,  Wisconsin,  where  he 
preached  to  the  congregation  already  established  there  on  the  same  Sunday  that 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Stark,  afterward  pastor,  preached  a  trial  sermon;  back  to  Browns- 
ville by  boat,  where  he  administered  the  Lord's  Supper  to  thirty-eight  com- 
municants and  baptized  five  infants,  one  of  whom  was  brought  fourteen  miles; 
and  then  through  Caledonia,  Preston,  Chatfield,  Rochester,  Greenwood,  Min- 
neiska  and  Wabashaw  to  Red  Wing. 


Il8    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

to  the  less  strenuous  life  of  a  settled  pastorate,  when,  in 
March,  1869,  the  congregation  in  Cumberland,  Md.,  grate- 
fully remembering  the  service  he  had  rendered  it  forty-five 
years  before,  extended  a  call  to  him.  But  Heyer  preferred  to 
remain  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium's  travelling  missionary 
for  Minnesota  and  resumed  his  labors  in  that  field.  The 
Minnesota  Synod  had  re-elected  him  president,  in  1867,  for 
another  term  of  two  years,  and  thus  he  held  this  office  with- 
out interruption  for  ten  years.  During  this  period  he  saw 
the  synod  grow  from  three  to  twenty-six  clerical  delegates. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  CRISIS 

THE  history  of  the  American  Evangelical  Lutheran  Mis- 
sions in  India  has  been  marked  by  alternating  periods  of  joy- 
ful activity  and  dispirited  inertia,  of  elation  over  good  results 
obtained  and  of  discouragement  over  seeming  failure,  of  com- 
paratively rapid  progress  and  of  slow  retrenchment,  of  steady 
gains  and  of  rapid  decline;  but  in  and  through  it  all,  the  work 
of  the  conversion  of  individuals,  of  the  establishment  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  christianization  of  the  people  has  been  un- 
interruptedly carried  on  to  its  present  stage  of  development. 

A  reinforcement  of  three  missionaries  reached  the  field  in 
1858,  and  the  prospect  looked  exceptionally  bright.  As  one 
after  the  other  of  the  missionaries,  however,  resigned  or  died, 
and  none  were  sent  to  fill  the  gaps,  the  work  languished,  and 
the  interest  and  effort  in  the  Church  at  home,  dissipated  by 
the  Civil  War  and  by  internal  dissensions  in  the  General 
Synod,  dwindled  and  almost  died  out. 

Adam  Long,  one  of  the  new  missionaries  sent  out  in  1858, 
was  born  December  14,  1825,  in  Clarion  County,  Pa.  He 
was  graduated  from  the  Academy  at  Zelienople  and,  in  1850, 
entered  Pennsylvania  College,  Gettysburg,  Pa.  After  com- 
pleting his  college  course  he  studied  theology  in  the  Gettys- 
burg Seminary.  He  was  ordained  at  the  meeting  of  the 
West  Pennsylvania  Synod  at  Chambersburg,  Pa.,  September 
29,  1857,  and  two  weeks  afterward,  November  i2th,  he  mar- 
ried Marie  Diettrich,  of  Ohio. 

Erias  Unangst,  the  other  new  missionary,  was  born  in 
1824,  in  Lehigh  County,  Pa.  He  entered  the  Preparatory 
Department,  Pennsylvania  College,  in  1847,  and  was  gradu- 
ated from  the  college  in  1854.  He  was  ordained  in  1857,  and 
on  September  24th,  that  year,  married  Phoebe  Milliken  of 
Lewistown,  Pa. 

119 


120    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

A  farewell  meeting  and  service  of  commissioning  for  these 
new  missionaries  and  for  Rev.  William  E.  Snyder,  who  was 
returning  to  India,  was  held  on  the  evening  of  October  13, 

1857,  in  Trinity  Church,  Reading,  Pa.    They  sailed  from 
Boston  on  December  23,  1857,  in  the  company  of  four  Ameri- 
can Board  missionaries,  and  arrived  at  Madras  on  March  14, 

1858,  Snyder  being  accompanied  by  his  daughter,  Lottie,  as 
well  as  by  his  second  wife,  Mary  Jane,  the  daughter  of  Jesse 
Orner  of  Reading,  Pa. 

Groenning,  who  had  remained  in  India  twelve  years,  having 
been  promised  a  furlough  after  the  arrival  of  the  new  mis- 
sionaries, at  once  left  Guntur  with  his  wife  and  four  children 
and  reached  Hamburg  on  September  13,  1858. 

Snyder  took  charge  of  the  work  in  Guntur  and  the  Palnad, 
Unangst  remaining  with  him.  Long  went  to  Rajahmundry. 
The  educational  work  occupied  most  of  Snyder's  time  and 
attention.  The  English  School  which,  in  1858,  began  to  re- 
ceive grant-in-aid  from  the  Government,  enrolled  52  pupils, 
many  of  them  Brahmins.  In  the  Telugu  schools  of  Guntur 
and  its  vicinity  55  boys  were  being  instructed  by  seven  native 
Christian  teachers.  Mrs.  Unangst  succeeded  Mrs.  Groenning 
as  the  manager  of  the  Guntur  Girls'  School  in  which  about 
40  girls  were  taught  by  three  teachers,  Walter,  Ruth  and 
Rebecca.1 

Heise,  in  September,  1857,  had  succeeded  Heyer  at  Rajah- 
mundry as  the  missionary  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium. 
The  number  of  communicants  in  Rajahmundry  (22)  was 
smaller  than  in  Guntur  (30),  but  the  number  of  pupils  in 
school  continued  to  be  larger,  the  Anglo-vernacular  School 
enrolling  80,  the  six  Telugu  schools  160,  and  the  Girls'  School 
45  pupils.  Thirteen  teachers  in  all  were  employed.  The 
Christian  community,  including  the  baptized  children,  num- 
bered 120. 

The  work  at  Guntur  and  in  the  Palnad  was  just  beginning 
to  regain  headway  under  the  efficient  management  of  Snyder, 
when  God  removed  him  suddenly  by  death.  He  had  finished 

1  Walter  was  the  headmaster;  Ruth  was  the  wife  of  Henry,  the  missionaries' 
butler;  Rebecca  was  the  wife  of  Stephen. 


TELUGU  POTTERS  AT  WORK 


TELUGU  GOLDSMITHS 


The   boy   apprentice    is   blowing   upon   the    fire   through    a    bamboo    pipe.      The   master 

goldsmith    is    a    devotee    of    the    god    Siva,    showing,    as    do    all    Sivaites, 

horizontal   chalk  marks   on   his   chest,   arms,   and   forehead. 


TELUGU  BASKET   MAKERS   WORKING   IX   FRONT  OF  THEIR  HUT 


TELUGU   CARPENTERS   SAWING  A   LOG  OF  WOOD 


THE    CRISIS  121 

a  successful  tour  in  the  Palnad,  accompanied  by  Joseph  and 
Walter,  having  baptized  thirty-nine  adults  and  forty  children, 
when,  on  the  day  of  his  return  to  Guntur,  he  was  stricken 
with  cholera.  After  an  illness  of  only  three  days  he  died  on 
March  5,  1859. l 

Ten  months  after  his  arrival  at  Rajahmundry,  Long  moved 
to  Samulkot.  The  advisability  of  starting  a  new  station 
somewhere  in  the  thickly  populated  region  between  Rajah- 
mundry and  the  coast  had  been  discussed  at  the  conference  of 
missionaries,  December  25,  26,  i858,2  and  the  following  resolu- 
tion had  been  unanimously  adopted:  "Resolved,  That  we 
proceed  immediately  to  organize  a  station  at  Pittapur  or 
Peddapur,  and  that  brother  Long  be  requested  to  occupy 
either  of  these  places  as  soon  as  possible."  Long  decided  to 
begin  at  Samulkot  rather  than  at  either  of  the  places  recom- 
mended, because  Captain  Todd,  the  officer  in  command  of  the 
28th  regiment  of  English  soldiers,  quartered  at  Samulkot, 
urged  him  to  come  there  and  offered  the  temporary  use  of  one 
of  the  officers'  houses  in  the  cantonment.  On  January  31, 
1859,  Long  occupied  Samulkot.  Soon  thereafter  Mrs.  Long 
began  a  school  for  boys,  held  on  the  verandah  of  their  home, 
starting  with  thirty-five  English,  Eurasian  and  Hindu  boys. 
Long  conducted  an  English  service  every  Sunday  in  the  can- 
tonment for  the  officers  and  soldiers,  and  preached  Telugu 
every  Wednesday  evening  in  the  bazaar.  He  also  organized 
a  Telugu  Sunday  school.  Occasionally  he  went  to  Coconada, 
Peddapur  and  Pittapur  to  preach. 

The  Executive  Committee  in  America  sanctioned  the 
building  of  a  missionary's  bungalow  at  Samulkot,  and  a  site 
was  obtained  through  the  Collector,  containing  about  twelve 
acres,  on  the  road  from  Samulkot  to  Peddapur.  The  work  of 
excavating  for  the  foundations  had  been  begun  when  word 
was  received  that  the  lot  should  not  be  given  to  the  Mission 

1  His  widow  and  daughter  at  once  returned  to  the  United  States,  the  former 
going  to  her  parents'  home  in  Reading,  the  latter  to  her  grandfather  in  Paterson, 
N.J. 

2  Five  towns  were  under  consideration,  namely,  Samulkot,  with  approxi- 
mately 20,000  inhabitants;  Peddapur,  with  20,000;  Pittapur,  with  20,000;  Co- 
conada, with  18,000,  and  Jaggampetta. 


122    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

but  should  be  offered  for  public  sale.  Then  Long  bought  it  for 
Rs.  240.  Meanwhile  he  had  been  obliged  to  vacate  the  house 
in  the  cantonment,  and  for  several  weeks  he  lived  in  a  tent. 
William  Black,  Esquire,  headmaster  of  the  Government  school 
at  Rajahmundry,  hospitably  entertained  the  missionary  and  his 
wife  until  the  Samulkot  bungalow  was  completed,  and  even 
loaned  him  money  for  the  undertaking.  The  house  was 
finished  in  February,  1861.  It  was  a  one-story  building  with 
a  verandah,  built  of  rough  stone,  containing  three  main  rooms, 
a  small  bedroom,  a  pantry  and  a  dressing  room.  The  roof 
was  tiled  and  the  floor  laid  with  stone  and  plastered. 

Samulkot  has  been  "stony  ground"  from  the  beginning. 
The  presence  of  the  English  soldiers  in  the  town  proved  to 
be  a  disadvantage  to  mission  work.  Long  reported  three 
adult  communicants  in  1860,  five  the  next  year  and  eight  in 
1865.  On  his  tours  in  1864  Long  visited  fifty- three  villages  and 
towns,  and,  in  1865,  sixty-four,  preaching  wherever  he  went 
and  distributing  hundreds  of  Bibles,  Testaments  and  tracts. 
Long  was  the  Samulkot  missionary  for  six  years.  From  such 
a  short  period  of  residence  very  little  could  be  expected.  Sev- 
eral adult  conversions  were  recorded,  and  seven  infants  were 
baptized  by  him. 

In  the  fall  of  1860  Groenning  returned  to  Guntur.  He 
had  sailed  from  Hamburg,  Germany,  with  his  wife  and  two 
younger  children,  on  September  220!,  leaving  his  three  elder 
children  with  relatives  and  friends  in  Germany.  In  March, 
1862,  Heise  having  been  forced  to  resign  and  leave  the  Mission 
on  account  of  ill-health,1  Groenning  went  to  Rajahmundry. 
At  his  own  request  and  because  he  was  the  only  experienced 
missionary  on  the  field,  the  Palnad  district  was  placed  under 
his  supervision,  though  it  was  manifestly  impossible  for  him 
to  give  it  much  attention  from  such  a  distant  point  as  Rajah- 
mundry. 

Before  leaving  Rajahmundry  Heise  joined  the  other  mis- 
sionaries in  the  submission  of  the  following  resolutions  to  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Society, 
passed  at  a  meeting  of  the  missionaries  held  in  January,  1862: 
1  Heise  afterward  lived  and  labored  at  Kiel  Germany. 


THE   CRISIS  123 

"i.  A  native  ministry  is  considered  very  desirable  if  we 
could  find  men  of  faith  and  vital  piety  for  it.  Such  a  native 
ministry  should  receive  a  salary  of  Rs.  20  a  month. 

"2.  English  schools  are  to  be  considered  as  a  secondary 
means  of  spreading  the  truth,  wherein  the  higher  castes,  desir- 
ing to  learn  the  English  language,  consent  to  listen  to  Bible 
teaching.  An  English  school,  however,  should  not  occupy 
more  than  two  hours  a  day  of  a  missionary's  time.  The  rest 
of  the  day  should  be  devoted  to  evangelistic  effort. 

"3.  Telugu  schools  are  necessary  means  of  disseminating 
the  good  seed  into  the  hearts  of  children  and  parents. 

"4.  Public  preaching  in  the  bazaars  and  villages  affords 
the  best  opportunity  of  learning  the  difficulties  and  hin- 
drances which  prevent  the  masses  from  accepting  Christianity, 
and  of  preparing  the  way  for  inquiry  concerning  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus. 

"5.  An  examination  in  Telugu  for  every  missionary  after 
two  years  in  the  country  or,  under  unfavorable  circumstances, 
after  three  or  four  years,  would  be  desirable. 

"6.  Every  missionary  should  be  willing  to  labor  where  the 
Executive  Committee  desires,  and  to  spend  and  be  spent  for 
the  cause  of  the  Master." 

Groenning  toured  in  the  Palnad  district  in  September,  1862, 
and  again  in  August,  1863,  spending  about  five  weeks  each  time 
in  the  district  and  two  weeks  on  the  journey  thither  and 
back.  On  his  second  tour  he  baptized  sixteen  persons  and 
administered  the  Lord's  Supper  to  one  hundred  communi- 
cants in  six  congregations.1  In  October,  1862,  the  services 
of  a  Eurasian  catechist,  R.  E.  Cully,  were  secured  for  the 
Palnad  district,  where  he  did  satisfactory  work. 

Concerning  the  educational  work  Groenning  wrote:  "The 
worst  of  it  is  that,  after  the  pupils  have  learned  a  little  about 
the  Gospel,  their  parents  take  them  out  of  school  and  put 
them  to  work  in  the  fields,  where  they  can  earn  a  little  more 
than  we  can  give  them  as  pupils;  and  unless  we  give  them 

1  He  reported  the  number  of  adult  Christians  in  the  district  to  be  196, 
inquirers  130,  pupils  89.  Johan  taught  in  Polepalli,  Zaccheus  in  Adigopula, 
Samuel  in  Pillutla,  Jacob  in  Jaggareish,  Johan  in  Mutukuru,  Lazarus  in  Taralla, 
Christian  in  Mandadi  and  Samuel  in  Veldurti. 


124    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

something  for  coming  to  school  we  cannot  get  them.  It  is 
different  in  Denmark,  where  parents  are  obliged  to  send  their 
children  to  school.  You  might  argue  that,  if  Hindu  parents 
will  not  send  their  children  to  school  without  being  paid  for 
it,  they  ought  to  be  left  to  their  fate;  but  the  Son  of  Man  came 
to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost,  and  we,  His  followers,  wish  by  all 
lawful  means  to  do  the  same.  We  even  have  boarding  schools 
in  which  we  provide  everything  for  the  pupils."  The  mis- 
sionaries, it  appears,  admitted  not  only  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  baptized  Christians  but  also  unbaptized  children,  as  free 
boarding  pupils, — a  practice  which  experience  has  proved  to 
be  inadvisable. 

Although  the  financial  support  of  English  residents  in 
Guntur  had  practically  ceased,  Judge  J.  H.  Morris  and  Cap- 
tain C.  Taylor  of  Rajahmundry  contributed  liberally  toward 
the  school  work  in  that  town,  giving  as  much  as  an  average  of 
Rs.  60  a  month.  Moreover,  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium 
sent  $150  a  year  especially  for  school  work  in  charge  of  its 
missionary.  Consequently  the  educational  work  in  Rajah- 
mundry continued  to  make  a  better  showing  than  that  in 
Guntur.  Outside  of  Rajahmundry,  Telugu  schools  were  con- 
ducted at  Dowlaishwaram  and  Muramunda,  each  attended 
by  about  thirty  pupils. 

Groenning  was  undoubtedly  the  most  successful  of  the  early 
missionaries  at  Rajahmundry.  The  records  show  that,  in 
1863  and  1864,  he  baptized  twenty  adults  and  eight  children ; 
in  1865,  eleven  adults  and  four  children ;  and  on  the  last  Sunday 
which  he  spent  at  the  station,  in  September,  1865,  eleven 
persons,  including  infants.  Forty  native  Christians  received 
the  Lord's  Supper  that  day. 

When  Groenning  learned  that  no  reinforcements  could 
be  sent  from  America  for  years,  he  turned  to  Germany  in  the 
hope  of  securing  one  or  more  missionaries.  He  corresponded 
with  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Nagel  of  Hamburg,  Germany, 
and  with  Rev.  Ludwig  Harms,  founder  of  the  Hermannsburg 
Missionary  Society,  urging  them  to  come  to  the  rescue  of  the 
American  Evangelical  Lutheran  Mission  in  India. 

Under  date  of  June   21,   1864,   Groenning  wrote   to  the 


THE    CRISIS  125 

Executive  Committee  in  America:  "On  the  last  day  of  May 
I  received  a  very  cheering  letter  from  Pastor  Harms,  in  which 
he  promised  to  send  a  man  to  help  as  a  missionary  here.  I 
feel  very  thankful  for  this  kind  offer,  and  I  am  sure  you  will 
acknowledge  herein  the  hand  of  Providence.  In  the  month 
of  December  ult.,  I  wrote  to  him  to  say  that  on  account  of 
the  war  in  America  it  seemed  impossible  for  my  society  to 
send  any  reinforcements  for  some  time.  If  he  would  send  a 
proper  man,  you  would  most  probably  support  him  by  and 
by.  To  my  surprise  he  has  written  that  he  would.  If  you 
feel  that  it  would  tax  your  resources  too  heavily  to  carry  on 
this  mission  station,  Pastor  Harms,  I  think,  would  be  willing 
to  take  it  from  you;  but  if  you  feel  strong  enough,  his  society 
may  look  for  some  other  place  in  this  vicinity.  May  the  Lord 
guide  you  and  me  in  this  important  matter.  Some  tune  ago  I 
learned  from  a  conversation  with  an  English  lady  that  an- 
other denomination  intended  establishing  a  station  or  two  in 
this  district." 

The  result  of  this  correspondence  was  that  Pastor  Harms 
secured  and  sent  out  the  Rev.  August  Mylius  with  instructions 
to  arrange  with  Groenning  for  the  occupation  of  Rajahmun- 
dry  as  the  field  of  the  Hermannsburg  Society  in  India.  My- 
lius reached  Rajahmundry  in  March,  1865.  The  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  however,  was 
unwilling  to  make  the  transfer,  and  Mylius,  acting  under  in- 
structions, looked  for  unoccupied  territory  in  the  Telugu 
country,  and  located  finally  at  Sulurpet  and  Naydupet. 

During  the  hot  season  of  1865,  Groenning,  his  wife  and 
their  two  younger  sons  were  seriously  ill.  One  of  the  children 
died  and  was  buried  in  the  mission  cemetery.  Physicians 
ordered  the  return  of  the  missionary  and  his  family  to  the 
temperate  zone.  The  Executive  Committee  in  America, 
though  willing  under  the  circumstances  to  grant  the  mis- 
sionary a  furlough  in  Germany,  was  unable  to  forward  the 
money  required  for  the  journey.  Friends  in  Denmark, 
however,  to  whom  Groenning  appealed,  supplied  him  with  the 
necessary  funds,  and  in  September,  1865,  he  left  the  Mission. 
He  never  returned;  but  he  continued  to  take  the  deepest  in- 


126    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

terest  in  the  Mission  to  the  day  of  his  death  and  gave  one  of 
his  sons  as  a  missionary. 

Long  succeeded  Groenning  at  Rajahmundry ;  but  scarcely 
had  he  begun  there  when  death  claimed  him,  on  March  5, 
1866,  a  victim  of  small-pox,  contracted  from  a  little  boy  whom 
he  nursed.  Of  his  three  children  who  were  ill  with  the  same 
disease  at  the  time  of  his  death,  two  died  and  were  laid  to 
rest  by  the  side  of  their  father  in  the  mission  cemetery. 
Eight  years  he  had  been  in  the  field  and  had  been  a  patient, 
faithful  missionary.  He  laid  down  his  life  as  a  sacrifice  to  the 
great  cause  in  obedience  to  the  last  command  of  the  Saviour. 

One  missionary  was  left,  Unangst,  at  Guntur.  He  con- 
tinued his  residence  there  and  undertook  to  supervise  the 
whole  Mission.  Cully  was  the  catechist  for  the  Palnad. 
Joseph  and  Paulus  were  appointed  catechists  for  the  Rajah- 
mundry work,  Joseph  residing  at  Rajahmundry  and  Paulus 
at  Muramunda.  Judge  Morris  and  Captain  Taylor  agreed 
to  look  after  the  school  work  in  Rajahmundry. 

In  July,  1866,  Unangst  visited  Rajahmundry.  On  the 
evening  of  the  seventeenth  of  that  month  he  administered  the 
Lord's  Supper  at  Rajahmundry  to  fifty  communicants,  Judge 
Morris  and  Captain  Taylor  communing  with  the  native  Chris- 
tians. On  the  twenty-first  he  administered  the  Holy  Com- 
munion to  three  native  Christians  in  Coconada,  and  the  next 
day  he  was  in  Samulkot.  The  following  Sunday  he  spent  in 
Rajahmundry.  Concerning  this  part  of  the  Mission  he  wrote: 
"  Rajahmundry  needs  a  resident  missionary.  The  immersion- 
ists,  Plymouth  Brethren,  are  enticing  our  members  away,  as 
if  there  were  not  enough  for  them  to  do  among  the  heathen. 
Several  of  our  teachers  have  been  alienated.  Unless  a  mis- 
sionary occupies  that  place  soon,  there  will  be  very  little  left 
for  us  to  look  after,  and  we  shall,  perhaps,  be  obliged,  whether 
we  will  or  not,  to  surrender  the  field  to  a  sect  whom  we  do 
not  very  much  feel  like  patronizing." 

We  may  stop  for  a  moment  at  this  critical  stage  of  the 
history  of  the  American  Lutheran  Missions  in  India,  after 
twenty-five  years  of  work,  to  see  what  its  condition  was 
as  shown  by  statistics.  There  were  four  stations:  Guntur, 


THE    CRISIS  127 

Rajahmundry,  Samulkot  and  the  Palnad.  The  out-stations  or 
villages  in  which  Christians  resided  numbered  29.  The 
number  baptized  from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  the  year 
1867,  was  1140;  the  number  of  Christians  680;  of  communi- 
cants, about  350.  Three  catechists,  two  colporteurs  and 
twenty-three  teachers  were  employed.  In  twenty-two  schools 
there  were  about  three  hundred  pupils.  The  number  of  bap- 
tisms reported  by  Unangst  in  1867  was  forty-five  adults  and 
fifty-one  infants. 

Now  let  us  turn  from  the  foreign  field  to  the  Home-Church. 
The  decline  of  foreign  mission  interest  and  effort  during  the 
seventh  decade  of  the  past  century  must  be  attributed  to 
two  causes,  namely:  first,  the  Civil  War  which  began  in  the 
spring  of  1861,  and  lasted  four  years;  and  secondly,  confes- 
sional differences  hi  the  General  Synod,  which  culminated  in 
a  division  and  in  the  formation,  in  1867,  of  a  second  general 
body  of  Lutherans,  the  General  Council. 

The  income  of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the 
General  Synod  became  increasingly  inadequate.  The  Penn- 
sylvania Ministerium  contributed  annually  $900  for  the  salary 
of  a  missionary  and  about  $150  in  addition  for  school  work; 
but  no  effort  was  made  to  increase  the  contributions  from 
year  to  year.  The  other  synods  in  the  General  Synod  dis- 
played no  more  energy  than  the  mother  synod.  Moreover, 
some  of  them  allowed  the  India  Mission  to  suffer  by  giving 
a  large  part  of  their  contributions  to  the  mission  in  Africa, 
which  had  been  started  as  an  independent  enterprise  but 
afterward  had  been  placed  under  the  care  and  control  of  The 
Foreign  Missionary  Society.  The  outbreak  of  the  war,  in 
the  spring  of  1861,  compelled  the  omission  of  the  regular 
biennial  convention  of  the  General  Synod  that  year,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  the  treasury  of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
suffered ;  and  the  close  of  the  year's  accounts  showed  a  deficit 
of  $3000.  Nevertheless,  the  General  Synod  at  its  conven- 
tion in  1862,  at  Lancaster,  Pa.,  adopted  a  resolution,  pro- 
posed by  the  Pittsburgh  Synod,  to  begin  a  mission  in  China. 
This,  surely,  was  an  indication  of  great  faith  in  the  promise  of 
the  Lord  and  of  confidence  in  the  Church's  ability  to  under- 


128    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

take  great  things.  Rev.  R.  Neumann,  who  at  one  time  had 
been  a  missionary  in  China  and  whose  plea  for  that  land  had 
moved  the  Pittsburgh  Synod  to  present  its  resolution,  was 
called  to  be  the  General  Synod's  missionary  to  China  and 
was  authorized  to  raise  $2000  for  the  proposed  undertaking. 
He,  however,  declined  the  call  and  no  further  steps  in  this 
direction  were  taken. 

For  twenty-five  years  the  Executive  Committee  of  The 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  had  practically  remained  intact. 
Its  leading  members  had  been  the  Rev.  H.  N.  Pohlman,  D.  D., 
the  Rev.  G.  A.  Lintner,  D.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  J.  Z.  Senderling. 
It  had  unquestionably  been  faithful  to  its  trust.  The  Gen- 
eral Synod,  however,  now  demanded  a  change  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  affairs  of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society, 
and  an  entirely  new  committee  was  elected  in  1866.  The 
Rev.  E.  Greenwald  was  made  chairman ;  the  Rev.  L.  E.  Albert, 
corresponding  secretary;  and  the  Rev.  A.  C.  Wedekind,  the 
Rev.  J.  E.  Graeff  and  G.  P.  Ockershausen,  Esq.,  were  the 
other  members  of  the  committee.  The  new  committee  asked 
the  Rev.  C.  W.  Groenning  to  return  to  India,  but  he  declined 
and  accepted  a  pastorate  at  Apenrade,  Denmark.  Neverthe- 
less, at  the  solicitation  of  the  committee  he  took  two  young 
men,  C.  F.  J.  Becker  and  H.  C.  Schmidt,  into  his  home  to  pre- 
pare them  for  work  in  the  service  of  the  American  society. 

After  the  organization  of  The  General  Council,  in  1867, 
the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  and  the  other  synods  associated 
with  it  in  the  new  body,  withdrew  their  support  from  The 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  whose  income  fell  from  $19,346 
for  the  biennium  1865  and  1866,  to  $15,875  for  the  succeeding 
biennium. 

The  following  letter  from  India  reveals  the  condition  of 
affairs  at  this  crisis,  both  in  the  Mission  and  in  the  Church  at 
home. 

Guntur,  December  5,  1868. 
To  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Churches  in  the  United  States. 

Dear  Friends:  I  regret  very  much  that  we  are  obliged 
to  inform  you,  that  we  and  our  Mission  are  in  want  and  dis- 
tress. The  last  letter  from  our  corresponding  secretary 


THE    CRISIS  129 

gives  rather  a  gloomy  picture  of  the  condition  of  the  foreign 
mission  enterprise  in  our  Church,  so  that  we  have  little  or  no 
hope  of  a  reinforcement  of  missionaries  at  present.  Our 
treasurer's  last  letter  is  dated  May  4,  1868.  By  this  letter  we 
got  only  $1000  for  us  and  our  Mission.  Since  that  time  we 
have  received  nothing,  and  yet  we  have  had  to  live  and  meet 
all  the  pecuniary  demands  of  the  Mission.  Ten  teachers  and 
a  catechist  in  the  Guntur  district,  Mr.  Cully  and  eight  teach- 
ers in  the  Palnad  district,  a  catechist,  a  colporteur  and  five 
teachers  in  Rajahmundry  and  Samulkot,  had  all  to  be  paid 
their  salaries.  Incidental  expenses  and  our  own  living  had 
also  to  be  met.  In  order  to  do  all  this  we  have  been  obliged 
to  borrow  upward  of  $1000  (Rs.  2000)  from  native  mer- 
chants. The  interest  on  this  amount  is  $15  a  month.  The 
annoyance  and  vexation  which  thus  harass  us  in  consequence 
of  our  present  want  and  distress  may  be  more  clearly  imagined 
than  described.  I  do  not  know  what  you  would  do  under 
similar  circumstances.  Perhaps  you  would  resign,  attach 
the  mission  property,  clear  your  debts,  secure  your  own  lawful 
share  and  retire.  If  not,  then  do  you  wish  us  to  go  on  and 
manage  the  Mission  and  conduct  its  various  operations  by 
means  of  borrowed  capital?  We  can  hardly  believe  that 
you  have  such  a  wish,  nor  can  we  think  that  your  hearts  are 
so  callous  as  to  be  insensible  to  the  loud  appeals  of  humanity 
and  the  cause  of  Christ.  We,  therefore,  appeal  to  you  for 
relief.  Some  new  missionaries  are  wanted  in  our  Mission, 
with  several  thousand  dollars,  or  else  you  must  give  up  the 
work  to  those  who  would  be  willing  and  ready  to  furnish  both 
missionaries  and  money  for  this  field.  Our  good  work  here 
is  increasing  on  our  hands,  and  we  feel  powerless  to  take 
hold  of  it  and  carry  it  on  vigorously.  Only  recently  news 
came  from  five  villages  where  there  are  new  inquirers.  All 
we  can  do  is  to  invite  the  people  to  come  to  Guntur.  How 
can  we  incur  additional  expense  for  travelling  and  go  to 
see  these  and  other  places  hi  our  mission  field,  unless  you 
promptly  relieve  us  and  pay  the  Mission's  debt  which,  by  the 
time  you  see  and  read  this  appeal,  will  have  increased  to  $1500? 
We  appeal  to  you  for  help,  to  pray  for  us  and  remember  us 


130    AMERICAN    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN    MISSIONS    IN    INDIA 

before  God  at  the  family  altar,  the  fireside,  and  in  the  solemn 
assembly.  May  God  be  with  you  and  help  you  to  do  so,  is 
the  prayer  of 

Yours  affectionately  in  Christ, 

E.  UNANGST. 

Matters  grew  steadily  worse  in  the  Mission,  especially  at 
Rajahmundry.  As  a  last  resort  Unangst  requested  the  Rev. 
F.  N.  Alexander,  a  missionary  of  The  Church  Missionary 
Society  at  Ellore,  to  take  charge  of  the  work  at  Rajahmundry. 
He  consented  and  appointed  his  associate,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Darling,  to  visit  that  town  and  make  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments. This  occurred  in  March,  1869,  and  two  months  there- 
after the  mission  agents  began  to  receive  their  salaries  from  the 
funds  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  in  the  hands  of  its 
missionaries  at  Ellore. 

Meanwhile  the  Executive  Committee  of  The  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  of  the  General  Synod  had  received  Un- 
angst's  report  of  his  proposal  to  the  Ellore  missionaries  and 
had  approved  it.  At  the  meeting  of  the  committee  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  May  17,  1869,  it  was  resolved  to  make  an  offer 
of  the  formal  transfer  of  the  Rajahmundry-Samulkot  district 
to  the  Church  Missionary  Society  of  England.  Before  the 
negotiations  were  completed,  however,  God,  through  his  ser- 
vants Heyer  and  Groenning,  interfered  and  gave  this  territory 
to  the  General  Council  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church 
in  North  America. 


MAP   OF   THE   GENERAL   COUNCIL'S  TELUGU  MISSION   FIELD 


MAP  OF  GENERAL  SYNOD'S  TELUGU  MISSION  FIELD 


PART  II 
THE    HISTORY    OF    THE   TELUGU    MISSION 

OF   THE 

GENERAL  COUNCIL  OF  THE  EVANGELICAL 
LUTHERAN  CHURCH  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  FOREIGN  MISSION  WORK  IN  THE  GENERAL 
COUNCIL    (1869) 

As  the  delegate  of  the  Minnesota  Synod,  Dr.  Heyer  at- 
tended the  convention  in  Reading,  Pa.,  December  12-14, 
1866,  which  planned  the  formation  of  the  General  Council  of 
the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  North  America,  unequiv- 
ocally founded  on  the  Confessions  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
He  served  as  a  member  of  the  first  committee  on  the  prepara- 
tion of  a  hymn  book.  He  took  an  active  part  in  all  the  de- 
liberations and  was  an  enthusiastic  advocate  of  the  new  move- 
ment. At  the  first  convention  of  the  General  Council  in 
Ft.  Wayne,  Ind.,  November  20-26,  1867,  he  was  appointed 
a  member  of  the  mission  committee  of  which  Rev.  Wm.  A. 
Passavant,  D.  D.,  was  chairman,  and  which  "respectfully  sug- 
gested that  the  executive  committee  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Synod  be  requested  to  effect  arrangements  for  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  work  of  missions  among  the  heathen  during  the 
coming  year."  Thus,  from  its  very  foundation  the  General 
Council  sought  to  fulfil  its  obligation  as  a  factor  in  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  great  commission  of  our  Lord.  To  continue 
to  support  the  India  Mission  of  The  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  of  the  General  Synod  was  not  possible  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. The  executive  committee  of  the  mother  synod 
decided  that  it  would  be  most  advisable  to  start  a  new  mis- 
sion in  some  other  non-Christian  land.  In  its  report  to  the 
i2ist  annual  convention  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium, 
convened  in  St.  Mark's  Church,  Philadelphia,  June,  1868,  it 
offered  the  following  recommendations: 

"Your  committee,  after  a  careful  consideration  of  the 
subject,  deems  it  best  to  propose  to  the  synod  the  establish- 
ment of  a  mission  in  China.  They  have  made  application  to 
The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 

133 


134       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Church  to  transfer  to  this  synod  the  moneys  collected  for  the 
establishment  of  a  mission  in  China,  several  years  since,  most 
of  which  were  contributed  by  our  congregations.  We  pro- 
posed this  in  the  spirit  of  peace  to  avoid  all  questions  of 
claims  to  the  property  of  the  India  Mission  and  all  conflicts 
in  the  foreign  field.  To  this  proposal  no  answer  as  yet  has 
been  received."  That  the  Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania 
might  have  established  its  title  to  much  property  in  Guntur, 
Rajahmundry  and  the  Palnad  is  certain;  that  it  relinquished 
its  claims  in  that  direction  and  merely  asked  for  the  funds 
contributed  for  a  China  mission,  but  not  used  for  that  pur- 
pose, was  a  magnanimous  proposal. 

By  a  rising  vote  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  resolved 
to  begin  a  mission  in  China,  to  call  the  Rev.  Robert  Neu- 
mann as  its  missionary,  and  to  educate  a  young  Chinaman 
whom  Rev.  Neumann  recommended  in  one  of  the  Lutheran 
Seminaries  in  the  United  States,  to  be  sent  out  later  as  a 
native  ordained  pastor.  Had  the  Rev.  Mr.  Neumann  ac- 
cepted the  call  of  the  synod,  the  General  Council  would  have 
begun  the  history  of  its  foreign  mission  work  by  an  effort  in 
behalf  of  the  christianization  of  China;  but  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Neumann  declined  the  call,  the  Chinese  student  left  the 
country,  and  nothing  further  was  done  to  carry  out  the 
resolution  of  the  synod.  It  remained  for  the  Swedish  Augus- 
tana  Synod  to  undertake,  in  the  year  1908,  independently 
of  the  other  synods  in  the  General  Council,  the  original  pur- 
pose of  those  to  whom  the  General  Council  entrusted  the 
inauguration  of  its  foreign  mission  work;  and  we  cannot  re- 
frain, at  this  point,  from  expressing  the  hope  that  some  day 
the  whole  General  Council  will  be  permitted  to  join  in  an 
effort  to  christianize  the  Chinese  republic. 

When  the  General  Council  met  in  its  second  annual  con- 
vention in  the  First  Lutheran  Church,  Pittsburgh,  November 
12-18,  1868,  the  outlook  for  foreign  mission  work  was  still 
uncertain,  and  a  special  committee  was  appointed  to  consider 
the  whole  matter  and  report  to  the  next  meeting.  Before  it 
could  arrive  at  any  definite  conclusion,  however,  God  so 
guided  affairs  as  to  return  to  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium, 


FOREIGN    MISSION    WORK    IN    GENERAL   COUNCIL    (1869)       135 

and  through  it  to  the  General  Council,  a  part  of  the  Telugu 
Mission  in  India,  where  the  mother  synod  had  begun  the 
foreign  mission  work  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America. 

While  negotiations  were  pending  between  The  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  of  The  General  Synod  and  The  Church 
Missionary  Society  of  England  for  the  transfer  of  the  Rajah- 
mundry  Mission  by  the  former  to  the  latter,  Dr.  Heyer  was  liv- 
ing temporarily  at  Helmstedt,  Germany,  whither  he  had  gone 
with  a  granddaughter  to  direct  her  education.  When  he  heard 
of  the  proposed  transaction,  he  hastened,  in  April,  1869,  to 
Apenrade,  to  confer  with  Groenning  and,  if  possible,  to  pre- 
vent the  transfer.  Apart  from  the  keen  personal  interest 
which  these  pioneers  took  in  the  Rajahmundry  Mission,  they 
were  unwilling  that  the  condition  should  be  violated  on  which 
The  North  German  Missionary  Society  had  transferred  it,  in 
1850,  to  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  namely,  that  it 
should  remain  a  Lutheran  Mission. 

In  Groenning's  home  Heyer  met  two  young  men,  Hans 
Christian  Schmidt  and  Christian  Friedrich  Johan  Becker, 
whom  Groenning  had  been  preparing  for  service  in  India 
under  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  which,  however,  had 
failed  to  call  either  one  of  them.  Both  expressed  their 
willingness  to  go  to  Rajahmundry;  and  it  was  arranged  that 
they  should  accompany  Heyer  to  the  United  States  and  offer 
their  services  to  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  in  the  hope 
that  the  mother  synod  would  make  an  effort  to  assume  full 
responsibility  for  the  work  at  Rajahmundry,  and  thus  pre- 
vent its  transfer  to  a  non-Lutheran  society.  Only  Schmidt 
could  arrange  to  leave  Germany  at  once;  but  Becker  agreed 
to  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  go  to  Rajahmundry  as  soon 
as  he  received  a  call. 

Heyer  and  Schmidt  reached  New  York  just  in  time  to  at- 
tend the  annual  meeting  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  in 
Trinity  Church,  Reading,  Pa.,  beginning  Trinity  Sunday, 
May  23,  1869.  The  unexpected  appearance  of  the  intrepid 
pioneer  foreign  missionary  and  his  address  to  the  synod 
created  a  most  profound  impression.  Protesting  most  earn- 
estly against  the  transfer  of  the  Rajahmundry  Mission  to  a 


136       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

non-Lutheran  Society  as  a  breach  of  contract,  he  pleaded  for 
the  continuation  of  the  work  at  that  station  by  the  mother 
synod,  which  had  sent  him  out  as  the  first  foreign  missionary 
of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America.  He  introduced  Mr. 
Schmidt,  a  pupil  of  Father  Groenning,  who  had  accompanied 
him  to  America  because  he  was  willing  to  become  the  synod's 
missionary  at  Rajahmundry;  and  then,  reaching  the  climax  of 
his  plea  and  holding  up  his  travelling  bag,  he  said  that  he  was 
ready  to  go  at  a  moment's  notice,  if  the  synod  wished  it,  even 
though  he  was  seventy-seven  years  old  and  it  would  be  his 
third  journey  to  India,  in  order  that  he  might  direct  his 
younger  brethren  in  the  reorganization  of  the  mission  work. 
On  Thursday  afternoon  the  special  committee  appointed  to 
consider  and  report  on  the  threatened  transfer  of  the  Rajah- 
mundry Mission  to  The  Church  Missionary  Society  submitted 
the  following  resolutions: 

"Whereas,  A  report  has  reached  us  that  it  is  proposed  to 
transfer  the  mission  stations  at  Rajahmundry  and  Samulkot  in 
India  to  The  Church  Missionary  Society  of  England,  and 

"Whereas,  We  learn  from  a  report  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  General  Synod's  Missionary  Society  at  Washington,  that 
a  transfer  of  these  mission  stations  to  another  interest  was 
referred  to  its  Foreign  Mission  Board  with  power  to  act  as  in 
their  judgment  they  should  deem  most  advisable,  and 

"Whereas,  This  synod  originally  established  the  India 
Mission  and  sustained  the  same  successfully  for  many  years; 
therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  we  most  solemnly  protest  against  the 
transfer  of  the  Mission  to  any  other  than  a  Lutheran  Mis- 
sionary Society,  and 

"Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  C.  F.  Heyer  be  requested  to  lay 
this  protest  before  the  Foreign  Mission  Board  of  the  General 
Synod,  and 

"Resolved,  That  the  executive  committee  be  authorized 
to  take  such  action  in  consultation  with  the  committee  on 
Foreign  Missions  of  the  General  Council,  as  they  may  deem 
proper." 

These  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the  synod,  and  Schmidt, 


FOREIGN   MISSION    WORK   IN    GENERAL   COUNCIL    (1869)       137 

after  having  been  examined  and  recommended  by  the  minis- 
terial session,  was  ordained,  together  with  twelve  other  candi- 
dates, on  Wednesday  evening,  May  26th. 

The  executive  committee  of  the  Pennsylvania  Minis terium1 
met  on  June  15, 1869,  delegated  Heyer  to  meet  with  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  and  "learn 
whether  it  was  still  in  its  power  and  whether  it  were  willing 
to  transfer  the  mission  stations  to  the  Ministerium  of  Pennsyl- 
vania," and  elected  the  Rev.  S.  K.  Brobst,  the  Rev.  B.  M. 
Schmucker  and  Mr.  H.  H.  Muhlenberg  as  a  sub-committee 
on  foreign  missions.  Furthermore,  the  General  Council's 
committee  on  foreign  missions  was  duly  informed  of  the  action 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  and  of  its  executive  commit- 
tee, and  its  approval  was  requested  and  obtained. 

Heyer  experienced  no  difficulty  in  securing  the  consent  of 
the  executive  committee  of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
to  the  proposal  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium,  and  its 
secretary  was  instructed  to  communicate  at  once  with  the 
officers  of  The  Church  Missionary  Society  in  England  and  with 
Missionary  Unangst  in  India,  directing  that  the  negotiations 
with  that  society  be  discontinued. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Ministerium,  held  in  Reading,  Pa.,  August  27,  1869, 
the  transfer  of  the  Rajahmundry  Mission,  formally  offered  by 
the  executive  committee  of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society, 
was  accepted,  and  Heyer,  Schmidt  and  Becker  were  called 
to  be  the  Ministerium's  foreign  missionaries.  The  resolu- 
tions of  the  committee  read  as  follows: 

"Resolved,  That  we  accept  the  transfer  of  the  mission 
stations  at  Rajahmundry  and  Samulkot;  that  the  Rev. 
C.  F.  Heyer,  the  Rev.  H.  C.  Schmidt  and  Mr.  C.  F.  J.  Becker 
be  sent  to  labor  at  those  places ;  that  the  necessary  travelling 

1  This  committee  then  consisted  of  the  officers  of  the  synod,  namely,  the 
Rev.  C.  W.  Schaeffer,  D.  D.,  President;  the  Rev.  B.  W.  Schmauk,  German 
Secretary;  the  Rev.  Jacob  Fry,  English  Secretary;  the  Rev.  A.  T.  Geissenhainer, 
Treasurer;  and  the  Presidents  of  the  Conferences  (among  others  the  Revs. 
W.  Rath,  F.  J.  F.  Schantz,  J.  Kapler  and  J.  W.  Hassler),  and  the  following  addi- 
tional members:  the  Rev.  B.  M.  Schmucker,  D.  D.,  the  Rev.  F.  A.  Mublen- 
berg,  D.  D.,  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Kuendig,  the  Rev.  J.  Kohler,  the  Rev.  S.  K.  Brobst, 
and  Messrs.  H.  H.  Muhlenberg,  C.  Pretz,  H.  Trexler,  J.  Henry  and  F.  Lauer. 


138       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

expenses  of  Heyer  and  Schmidt  be  paid;  that  the  sum  of  $150 
for  an  outfit  be  paid  Rev.  Heyer;  that  $100  for  each  of  the 
others  be  appropriated;  and  that  the  whole  expense  do  not 
exceed  $1500. 

"Resolved,  That  the  salary  of  each  missionary  be  $500, 
gold;  that  the  missionaries  be  authorized  to  expend  for  native 
missionaries  and  schools  a  sum  not  exceeding  $300,  gold,  a 
year;  that  information  of  this  action  be  transmitted  to  the 
committee  of  the  General  Council  on  Foreign  Missions;  and 
that  the  delegates  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  to  the 
General  Council  lay  this  action  before  that  body  and  offer  to 
transfer  the  mission  to  their  custody  and  control." 

Heyer  felt  that  no  time  should  be  lost  in  making  the  transfer 
practically  and  fully  effective  by  the  actual  occupation  of  the 
field;  and  on  the  last  day  of  August,  1869,  four  days  after  the 
ratification  of  the  transfer,  he  sailed  from  New  York,  bound 
for  India  by  the  shortest  route. 

The  General  Council  in  session  in  the  Swedish  Immanuel 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  Chicago,  November  4-10, 
1869,  heartily  endorsed  the  action  of  the  executive  committee 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium,  accepted  the  custody  and 
control  of  the  Rajahmundry  Mission,  elected  as  its  committee 
on  foreign  missions  the  executive  committee  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Ministerium,  and  requested  the  district  synods  to  for- 
ward all  their  foreign  mission  contributions  to  the  treasurer 
of  the  General  Council  to  be  applied  to  the  Rajahmundry 
work.1 

Before  leaving  America  Heyer  had  been  instructed  to  ascer- 
tain whether  the  Hermannsburg  Missionary  Society  could  be 
induced  to  co-operate  with  the  General  Council  in  foreign 
mission  work  in  India;  and  after  visiting  his  brother,  Prae- 
positus  Heyer,  in  Plau,  Mecklenburg,  Germany,  he  went  to 
Hermannsburg  for  a  conference  with  Pastor  Ludwig  Harms 

1  The  General  Council  also  instructed  its  foreign  mission  committee  to  cor- 
respond with  the  Leipsic  and  Hermannsburg  Missionary  Societies  and  solicit 
their  co-operation  in  the  Rajahmundry  Mission;  to  take  the  claims  of  the  in- 
creasing Chinese  population  in  the  United  States  into  consideration;  and, 
through  the  Swedish  Secretary  of  the  Council,  to  confer  with  the  Finnish 
Lutheran  Missionary  Society  concerning  the  establishment  of  a  mission  among 
the  Indians  in  Alaska. 


FOREIGN    MISSION    WORK    IN    GENERAL    COUNCIL    (1869)      139 

and  Inspector  Anstaedt.  They  gave  him  no  encouragement, 
however,  and  told  him  that  they  preferred  to  work  inde- 
pendently in  their  newly  established  mission  at  Naydupet, 
north  of  Madras.  Heyer  then  visited  Groenning  at  Apen- 
rade,  who  cheered  him  with  the  assurance  of  Becker's  willing- 
ness to  follow  him  to  Rajahmundry  and  with  the  prospect  of 
securing  one  or  two  additional  missionaries  from  the  Mission 
Institute  in  Copenhagen. 

From  Trieste  Heyer  crossed  the  Mediterranean  Sea  to  Suez, 
though  the  canal  had  not  yet  been  officially  and  formally 
opened.  He  reached  Bombay  on  October  23,  1869,  and  from 
that  city  took  a  train  on  the  newly  constructed  railway  to 
Sholapur,  where  it  terminated.  Over  two  hundred  miles  to 
the  south  lay  Secunderabad,  eight  miles  beyond  that  Hydera- 
bad, and  still  farther  south  the  Palnad,  through  which  he 
wished  to  pass  on  his  way  to  Guntur.  We  will  let  Heyer 
himself  describe  his  long  overland  journey  from  Sholapur  to 
Secunderabad,  quoting  from  a  letter  written  to  Miss  Nora 
laeger,  of  Reading,  Pa.: 

"When  the  agent  understood  that  I  was  engaged  in  mission 
work,  he  offered,  if  I  would  consent  to  let  him  put  some  mer- 
chandise in  the  body  of  the  bullock-cart  and  to  make  a  kind 
of  bed  on  the  top,  to  charge  me  nothing.  I  accepted,  not 
considering  or  knowing  what  I  would  have  to  endure.  Only 
think  of  an  old  missionary,  seventy-seven  years  of  age,  in  a 
horizontal  position  on  top  of  store-boxes  in  a  common  country 
cart,  carried  two  hundred  miles  by  day  and  by  night !  If  the 
roads  had  been  good  and  the  weather  favorable  I  might  have 
endured  it  without  much  suffering,  but  on  the  second  day  I 
was  caught  in  a  heavy  monsoon  rain,  coming  down  in  Indian 
style.  It  did  seem  as  if  there  might  have  been  five  hundred 
washer- women  in  the  clouds  pouring  down  rain  by  the  buckets- 
ful.  Night  came  on  and  the  cart  stuck  fast  in  the  mud.  I 
spent  a  most  uncomfortable  night  in  the  upper  story  of  my 
cart.  Next  morning  additional  bullocks  were  brought,  and 
we  started  again.  After  going  a  mile  or  two  we  came  to  a 
place  where  a  bridge  had  been  washed  away  and  where  about 
hundred  bandies  were  waiting  to  get  across.  Seeing  that 


140       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

it  would  be  a  tedious  business,  I  left  the  cart  and  walked  five 
miles  to  the  next  bungalow.  Thus  it  went  on  for  six  days, 
travelling  at  the  rate  of  two  miles  an  hour.  The  cart  stuck 
fast  every  day,  and  every  day  I  had  to  walk  from  three  to  six 
miles  to  reach  some  bungalow.  After  six  days  we  got  into 
better  roads,  and  for  the  last  three  days  we  went  about  three 
miles  an  hour.  Passing  through  the  Mahratta  and  Canara 
regions  it  was  with  difficulty  that  I  could  get  the  people  to 
understand  me.  By  signs  and  tokens  only  could  we  exchange 
a  few  ideas.  Indeed,  I  found  that  I  had  undertaken  more 
than  I  ought  to  have  done,  and  only  wonder  how  the  Lord 
enabled  me  by  patience  and  perseverance  to  overcome  the 
difficulties  in  the  way  without  sinking  under  them.  Novem- 
ber 5th  I  arrived  at  Secunderabad  and  parted  with  my  coach, 
bruised  and  sore,  in  a  condition  which  I  had  never  before 
been." 

In  Secunderabad  Heyer  bought  a  palankeen  for  $12  and 
engaged  bearers  to  carry  him  to  Bayawarrow,  one  hundred 
and  sixty-six  miles.  He  paid  the  bearers  Rs.  70  or  about 
$25.  They  covered  the  distance  in  about  twelve  days;  but 
even  this  comparatively  more  comfortable  mode  of  travel 
was  wearisome.  November  i6th,  Gurjal  was  reached.  Six- 
teen years  had  elapsed  since  he  had  last  been  in  the  Palnad, 
and  he  rejoiced  to  find  there  some  of  the  converts  whom  he 
had  baptized.  The  bungalow  which  he  had  built  at  Gurjal 
was  still  standing,  and  he  occupied  it  again  for  a  few  days  with 
a  devout  feeling  of  gratitude.  The  catechist,  Cully,  welcomed 
him  most  cordially  and  told  him  of  the  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity in  the  district,  where  the  Christian  community 
numbered  six  hundred.  After  spending  a  week  in  the  Palnad, 
Heyer  proceeded  to  Guntur.  " Boniface,"  he  wrote,  "could 
not  have  been  received  more  joyfully  and  respectfully  by  his 
German  converts  than  the  native  Christians  received  their 
old  missionary  who  had  unexpectedly  come  to  visit  them." 
December  i,  1869,  he  arrived  at  Rajahmundry,  just  three 
months  after  starting  from  New  York. 

Writing  soon  after  his  arrival  he  said:  "My  own  impres- 
sion before  I  left  America,  as  well  as  the  opinion  of  some  of 


FOREIGN   MISSION   WORK   IN    GENERAL    COUNCIL    (1869)       141 

the  brethren,  was  that  our  prospects  in  India  were  rather 
discouraging;  but  from  personal  observation  I  am  fully  con- 
vinced that  it  is  an  erroneous  opinion.  .  .  .  Unangst  found 
that  he  could  not  attend  to  all  the  stations  and,  being  left 
without  funds  to  meet  the  current  expenses  of  the  mission, 
called  in  the  assistance  of  a  neighboring  missionary  belonging 
to  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  Last  spring  (1869)  a  kind 
of  transfer  was  made  to  the  C.  M.  S.,  and  since  last  May  to 
December  ist,  the  catechists  and  teachers  connected  with  the 
Rajahmundry  Mission  were  paid  by  the  C.  M.  S.  This 
money,  of  course,  must  be  refunded  and  the  sooner  the 
better  for  our  credit.  The  General  Synod's  Board  should  be 
held  responsible  for  May,  June,  July  and  August.  Conse- 
quently, our  executive  committee  will  assume  payment  from 
September  ist,  the  time  when  the  Board  made  the  transfer 
to  the  Pennsylvania  Synod.  I  have  not  yet  received  the  ex- 
act statement,  but  it  will  amount  to  about  $31  a  month  for 
catechists  and  teachers.  Besides  this  the  C.  M.  S.  has  given 
a  monthly  allowance  of  $10  for  travelling  expenses." 

In  Rajahmundry  Heyer  found  ten  native  Christian  families 
and  a  school  of  about  twenty  children  taught  by  a  native 
Christian  teacher;  at  Dowlaishwaram,  five  Christian  families; 
at  Metta,  six  Christian  families  and  a  school  with  a  teacher 
and  sixteen  children;  at  Peddahem,  one  Christian  family; 
at  Gowripatnam,  three  families  of  inquirers;  at  Muramunda, 
the  oldest  congregation  outside  of  Rajahmundry,  twelve 
Christian  families  and  thirteen  children  in  a  mission  school; 
at  Jegurupad,  six  Christian  families  and  twenty-four  children 
in  school;  at  Peravaram,  five  Christian  families  and  a  newly 
opened  school;  at  Lolla,  one  family  of  inquirers.  Counting 
three  on  an  average  to  each  family,  the  number  of  Christians 
was  135;  counting  four,  180.  The  total  number  of  children 
in  all  the  mission  schools  repDrted  by  Heyer  was  73.  Forty- 
nine  persons  from  Rajahmundry  and  adjacent  villages  at- 
tended the  first  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  by  Heyer 
at  Rajahmundry  on  Christmas  day,  1869. 

After  Christmas  Heyer  made  his  first  tour  of  the  out- 
stations.  From  Rajahmundry  he  walked  to  Dowlaishwaram 


142       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

on  foot.  There,  in  a  small  building  which  Groenning  had 
secured  for  the  mission,  he  reopened  a  school.  Then  he  went 
by  canal  to  Jegurupad  and  Muramunda,  baptizing  three 
women  and  two  girls  at  the  latter  place.  At  Samulkot  he 
found  nothing  but  the  bungalow  which  Long  had  built.  The 
total  force  of  native  Christian  workers  consisted  of  two 
catechists,  Joseph  at  Rajahmundry  and  Paulus  at  Mura- 
munda, and  five  teachers. 

That  was  all  with  which  the  General  Council  had  to  begin 
in  its  foreign  mission  field.  From  that  mustard  seed  there 
has  since  grown  a  sturdy  tree  with  branches  spreading  wide 
in  every  direction,  and  bearing  rich  fruit  in  the  continual 
conversion  of  men,  women  and  children,  body  and  soul,  from 
gross,  gruesome  Hinduism  to  repentance  and  faith  in  Christ, 
the  divine  Redeemer,  the  Revealer  of  the  True  God. 


CHAPTER  II 

HEYER  COMPLETES  HIS  LIFE-WORK   (1870) 

ON  February  i,  1870,  the  Rev.  C.  F.  J.  Becker,  the  second 
foreign  missionary  of  the  General  Council,  arrived  at  Rajah- 
mundry;  but  three  months  and  one  week  later  Heyer  rever- 
ently and  sorrowfully  laid  the  body  of  the  young  man  to  rest 
in  the  cemetery  of  the  Mission  at  Rajahmundry. 

Christian  Friederich  Johan  Becker  was  born  at  Kjerteminde, 
on  the  island  of  Funen,  Denmark,  April  17,  1845.  After  his 
confirmation  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  gardener  who  said  to 
him  one  day,  "Friend,  you  are  better  fitted  for  philosophy 
than  for  gardening."  He  continued  to  work  as  a  gardener, 
however,  and,  after  having  served  his  apprenticeship,  went  to 
Copenhagen  to  study  landscape  gardening.  He  became  deeply 
interested  in  the  Greenland  Mission  and  decided  to  become  a 
foreign  missionary.  He  entered  the  Mission  Institute  of  The 
Danish  Missionary  Society  at  Copenhagen  May  4,  1863, 
about  a  year  after  it  was  established.  Besides  Becker  there 
were  then  only  two  other  students  in  the  school.  After  a 
four  years'  course  of  study  he  was  asked  by  the  Rev.  C.  W. 
Groenning  to  enter  the  service  of  The  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  of  the  General  Synod  in  the  United  States.  He  ex- 
pressed his  willingness  to  be  sent  to  India  and  spent  about 
a  year  in  the  home  of  Groenning  in  special  preparation,  and 
eight  months  more  hi  Copenhagen  devoted  to  the  study  of 
medicine  and  theology.  The  call  which  he  expected  from 
The  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  however,  did  not  come,  and 
he  was  about  to  offer  his  services  to  The  Hermannsburg  Mis- 
sionary Society  when  Groenning  and  Heyer  persuaded  him  to 
volunteer  to  go  to  Rajahmundry  as  one  of  the  missionaries  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium.  The  executive  committee 
of  that  synod  extended  a  call  to  him  but  decided  to  postpone 
his  departure  for  India  because  of  a  lack  of  funds.  Then, 
through  the  aid  of  friends,  he  secured  permission  to  sail  on 

143 


144       THE    TELUGU   MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

October  15,  1869,  as  far  as  Egypt,  on  the  Danish  frigate  of 
war  "Zealand,"  which  was  assigned  to  participate  in  the  naval 
ceremony  at  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal.  The  Danish 
Missionary  Society,  moreover,  advanced  him  the  sum  of 
$300  for  his  travelling  expenses  from  Port  Said  to  Rajah- 
mundry.  For  the  passage  through  the  Suez  Canal  he  paid  the 
price  of  a  first-class  passage  on  a  French  steamer,  but  he  could 
not  secure  a  berth  and  was  forced  to  sleep  on  deck.  He  left 
Suez  November  2Qth,  reached  Madras  December  i8th,  and 
spent  six  weeks  in  the  latter  city.  From  Madras  he  went  by 
steamer  to  Coconada  and  by  canal  to  Dowlaishwaram,  where 
he  was  met  by  the  catechist  Joseph,  who  escorted  him  on 
foot  to  Rajahmundry.  He  at  once  applied  himself  to  the 
study  of  Telugu  and,  as  opportunity  offered,  accompanied 
Heyer  on  short  tours  to  different  out-stations.  On  May  8, 
1870,  at  the  beginning  of  the  hot  season,  after  a  brief  illness, 
he  passed  away,  the  first  General  Council  foreign  missionary 
to  lay  down  his  life  on  the  field.  His  body  was  buried  by 
Heyer  and  the  native  Christians  by  the  side  of  those  of  Long 
and  the  children  of  Long,  Groenning  and  Cutter.  Becker 
was  only  twenty-five  years  old  when  he  died,  and  had  been  in 
India  less  than  six  months. 

Heyer  was  again  alone  on  the  mission  field,  but  he  was  soon 
to  be  joined  by  two  other  young  recruits.  Some  time  between 
the  ist  and  i5th  of  February  he  began  a  school  for  girls  at 
Rajahmundry  and  sent  a  native  teacher,  Jeremiah,  to  Tay- 
lor's petta  near  Narsapur,  thus  beginning  the  work  in  that 
part  of  the  country,  which  since  has  become  the  most  pro- 
ductive district  of  the  mission  field.  With  Rs.  45,  contrib- 
uted by  English  residents  at  Rajahmundry,  he  built  new 
schoolhouses  at  Jegurupad  and  Gowripatnam.  Judge  J.  H. 
Morris,  the  Collector  of  the  Godavery  district,  continued  to 
contribute  Rs.  20  a  month,  or  about  $150  a  year,  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  mission  work,  and  his  assistant  Collector  gave 
about  one-half  that  amount.  These  contributions  enabled 
Heyer  to  pay  the  salaries  of  his  native  catechists,  each  of 
whom  received  about  $7.50  a  month.  On  February  i4th 
Heyer,  in  a  letter  from  Groenning,  got  the  sum  of  100  Prussian 


HEYER    COMPLETES    HIS    LIFE-WORK    (1870)  145 

thaler,  contributed  by  friends  in  Denmark  for  the  education 
of  three  native  Christian  boys.  This  made  a  boarding  school 
for  boys  possible,  and  Heyer  began  one  at  once  with  Cornelius, 
James  and  William1  as  pupils.  Of  these  the  two  latter  after- 
ward became  native  pastors. 

The  district  evangelistic  work  under  the  missionary's  super- 
vision was  divided  between  Joseph  and  Paulus,  both  of  whom 
proved  themselves  efficient  workers. 

Tota  Joseph  was  born  at  Guntur  in  1839.  His  father  was 
a  sepoy  in  one  of  the  native  infantry  regiments.  From  Guntur 
the  family  moved  to  North  Arcot,  near  Madras,  where,  after 
a  residence  of  seven  years,  Joseph's  father  died  of  cholera, 
leaving  his  widow  with  three  children,  of  whom  Joseph  was 
the  eldest.  Returning  to  Guntur,  the  children  were  cared 
for  by  their  maternal  grandparents.  Joseph  was  sent  to  the 
mission  schools  for  boys,  then  in  charge  of  Heyer.  He  was 
baptized  by  Groenning  in  1852,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  despite 
the  opposition  of  his  relatives.  When  the  Rev.  and  Mrs. 
W.  E.  Snyder  came  to  Guntur  they  took  Joseph  into  their 
home  and  treated  him,  as  Joseph  himself  testified,  "like  their 
own  child."  In  1854  Joseph  went  with  Snyder  and  Heyer  to 
Rajahmundry.  They  and,  afterward,  Heise  instructed  him 
and  employed  him  occasionally  as  a  colporteur.  On  February 
i,  1860,  he  married  Lydia,  a  native  Christian  girl.  Missionary 
Unangst  performed  the  ceremony  at  Guntur.  Eight  days  after 
the  wedding  they  came  to  Rajahmundry,  where  Joseph  worked 
for  the  Mission  as  a  colporteur  in  the  employ  of  the  Madras 
Bible  Society,  and  his  wife  assisted  in  the  girls'  school.  When 
Groenning  took  charge  of  the  work  at  Rajahmundry,  he  made 
Joseph  a  teacher,  and  in  that  position  he  continued  to  work 
under  Long,  after  whose  death  Unangst  raised  him  to  the 
rank  of  a  catechist  to  share  with  Paulus  the  responsibility  of 
the  district  work  during  the  absence  of  a  resident  missionary. 

Nelaprolu2  Paulus  was  born  in  the  Palnad  in  1842.  His  uncle 

1  The  family  name  of  William  was  originally  Jerripotu.  A  Jerri  is  a  sort 
of  a  centipede.  A  jerripotu  is  the  male  of  the  species.  As  the  family  rose  in 
honor  the  name  became  Jeriprolu. 

1  Paulus'  family  name  was  originally  Nallapotu,  which  means  a  black  buck. 
He  metamorphosed  it  into  Nelaprolu. 


146       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

was  the  first  convert  from  Hinduism  in  that  district  baptized 
by  Heyer,  and  became  the  first  school-teacher  at  Pollepalli. 
His  parents,  Isaac  and  Rebecca,  were  weavers  by  trade,  in 
comparatively  moderate  circumstances.  Paulus  was  their 
fourth  son.  The  whole  family  was  baptized  by  Heyer  at 
Pollepalli.  Paulus  became  a  boarding  pupil  in  Heyer's 
school  at  Gurjal,  accompanied  him  to  Guntur  and  continued 
his  studies  there  under  Groenning  and  Unangst.  During 
Groenning's  second  term  of  service  at  Guntur  he  occasionally 
employed  Paulus  in  mission  work.  He  married  Mary  Mag- 
dalene, a  pupil  in  the  Guntur  Girls'  School.  When  Judge 
Morris,  Collector  at  Rajahmundry,  asked  the  missionaries  to 
recommend  some  one  to  be  employed  as  a  government  clerk, 
who  at  the  same  time  could  serve  as  a  Christian  teacher  for 
the  Collector's  servants,  Paulus  was  recommended  and  went 
to  Rajahmundry  and,  afterward,  to  Masulipatam,  when  the 
Collector's  office  was  removed  to  that  town.  For  a  while  he 
was  employed  as  a  colporteur  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  English  of 
Masulipatam,  but  Groenning  persuaded  him  to  return  to 
Rajahmundry  and  serve  the  Mission  which  had  educated  him. 
Under  Groenning  and  Long  he  worked  as  a  teacher,  and  when 
Unangst  took  charge  of  the  Rajahmundry  district  he  made 
Paulus  a  catechist,  with  residence  at  Muramunda. 

Heyer  wisely  left  these  two  native  workers  where  he  found 
them.  In  Joseph's  district  the  Christians  numbered  85  in 
March,  1870,  and  there  were  three  families  of  inquirers;  in 
Paulus'  district,  at  the  same  time,  there  were  76  baptized 
Christians  and  two  families  of  inquirers.  In  the  whole  field 
there  were  seven  Telugu  schools,  enrolling  200  pupils. 

Every  morning,  when  in  Rajahmundry,  Heyer  conducted  a 
devotional  exercise.  The  native  Christians  living  in  and  near 
the  mission  compound  were  assembled  in  the  large  room  of 
the  mission  house  at  nine  o'clock.  After  an  opening  hymn 
and  the  Public  Confession  and  Declaration  of  Grace,  the 
children  recited  a  portion  of  Luther's  Small  Catechism,  be- 
ginning on  Monday  with  Part  I,  and  ending  on  Friday  with 
Part  V.  On  Saturday  a  part  of  "The  Order  of  Salvation  in 
Questions  and  Answers,"  which  had  been  translated  by 


NATIVE    PASTOR   NELAPROLU    PAULUS 


NATIVE   PASTOR  TOTA  JOSEPH 


NATIVE  PASTORS  JERIPROLU  WILLIAM,   P.   VENKATARATNAM, 
PANTAGANI   PARADESI 


HEYER   COMPLETES   HIS   LIFE-WORK    (1870)  147 

Groenning,  was  recited.  After  the  catechetical  work  a  chapter 
of  the  Bible  was  read  responsively  and  a  memory-text  was 
assigned.  Then  the  previous  day's  lesson  was  reviewed,  and 
the  service  ended  with  a  prayer  and  a  hymn. 

Early  in  April,  accompanied  by  Becker,  Heyer  made  a  short 
tour,  going  first  to  Dowlaishwaram,  where  the  reopened 
school  was  found  to  be  in  a  flourishing  condition,  as  many  as 
35  pupils  being  enrolled.  At  Jegurupad  the  new  schoolhouse 
was  being  built.  At  Muramunda  two  men  and  two  women 
were  baptized  on  April  3d,  and  the  Lord's  Supper  was  ad- 
ministered to  21  persons.  Five  days  later  at  Metta  21  were 
baptized,  4  from  Metta,  n  from  Peddahem  and  6  from 
Gowripatnam.  Returning  to  Rajahmundry  for  the  Good 
Friday  and  Easter  services,  Heyer  administered  the  Lord's 
Supper  to  23  persons  from  the  district  under  Joseph's  over- 
sight and  baptized  a  young  man  from  Dowlaishwaram.  The 
number  baptized  by  Heyer  up  to  May  i5th  was  31.  He 
spent  the  hot  season  at  Upparda  on  the  sea-coast  as  the 
guest  of  the  Collector,  Judge  Morris. 

When  the  sad  news  of  Becker's  death  reached  Europe  and 
America,  Schmidt  was  already  on  his  way  to  India. 

Hans  Christian  Schmidt  was  the  third  foreign  missionary 
of  the  General  Council.  He  was  born  May  25,  1840,  in  Flens- 
borg,  Schleswig,  which  at  that  time  was  a  province  belonging 
to  Denmark;  but  now  it  belongs  to  Prussia.  The  following 
autobiographical  sketch  of  his  early  life  is  very  interesting: 

"When  my  father  was  married  and  began  housekeeping, 
he  got  a  neighboring  artist  to  paint  for  him  a  picture  in  oil, 
representing  Christ  on  the  cross,  with  this  verse  painted  under 
the  picture: 

"'My  only  boast  is  in  the  wounds, 
Thy  hands  and  feet  received  for  me.' 

"Some  years  later  a  good  bishop  asked  him  if  this  were 
still  his  only  boast.  My  father  replied  in  the  affirmative,  and 
to  the  day  of  his  death  he  remained  faithful  to  this  confession. 

"I  was  the  eldest  of  six  children.  On  my  baptismal  day  my 
father  dedicated  me  to  the  work  of  the  Lord  as  a  foreign  mis- 


148       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

sionary,  and  appropriately  asked  Mr.  C.  W.  Groenning,  then 
a  student  preparing  for  work  as  a  missionary,  to  be  a  sponsor. 
My  father  had  taken  the  deepest  interest  in  Mr.  Groenning 
and  also  in  his  companion,  Mr.  Graff,  who  afterward  went  to 
Africa  as  a  missionary.  Mission  tracts  and  pamphlets  in  the 
German  and  Danish  languages  were  circulated  by  my  father 
and  his  friends  as  a  labor  of  love,  and  many  contributions  for 
missions  were  gathered  by  him.  He  was  familiarly  known  as 
the  pious  shoemaker. 

"Missionary  Groenning,  in  a  letter  written  in  India,  speak- 
ing of  my  sainted  mother,  said,  'She  always  reminded  me  of 
Mary  who  sat  at  Jesus'  feet.'  As  a  young  woman  she  was  so 
interested  in  the  cause  of  missions  that,  as  often  as  her  Chris- 
tian friends  gathered  in  her  home,  she  would  bring  out  the 
mission  box  and  ask  them  to  remember  the  poor  heathen. 
She  organized  a  women's  missionary  society  in  Flensborg, 
which  sent  many  contributions  and  garments  to  Greenland 
and  other  mission  fields. 

"Under  the  blessed  guidance  of  such  parents  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  I  early  learned  to  know  and  love  the  Saviour,  and 
that  I  should  ultimately  choose  to  become  a  missionary. 
Mission  tracts  were  my  first  literature.  I  was  especially 
interested  in  the  Eskimos;  and  to  be  a  missionary  to  these 
people  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  greatest  calling  on  earth.  My 
father  never  told  me  of  my  dedication  to  this  calling.  He 
preferred  rather  to  commit  all  things  to  God's  overruling  provi- 
dence. I  was  not  permitted  to  hear  from  my  parents  the  words 
of  approval  and  encouragement  which  they  would  have  given 
me  when  I  became  a  missionary,  for  when  I  did  they  had 
already  been  called  to  their  heavenly  home ;  yet  it  is  a  distinct 
joy  to  know  that  a  kind  Providence  led  me  in  the  way  they 
wished  me  to  go.  My  mother  died  in  1849,  mv  father  in  1855. 
I  was  attending  a  Moravian  school  in  Christiansfeld  when  my 
father  died,  and  I  left  school  to  return  to  my  home  and  help 
provide  for  my  stepmother,  brothers  and  sisters.  As  I  left 
the  school  one  of  the  teachers  said  to  me,  "I  had  hoped  that 
you  would  become  a  missionary."  This  hope,  however,  at 
that  time  seemed  beyond  realization.  I  was  led  to  experience 


HEYER    COMPLETES   HIS    LIFE-WORK    (1870)  149 

more  and  more  the  grace  of  God  and  my  interest  in  missions 
constantly  increased. 

"Toward  the  end  of  1863, 1  was  called  to  enter  the  Danish 
military  service.  Schleswig  then  belonged  to  Denmark.  I 
was  appointed  on  the  general's  staff  and  in  this  position  learned 
a  great  deal  about  administrative  work,  which  was  afterward 
useful  to  me  as  a  missionary.  We  were  obliged  to  remain  at 
our  desks  until  late  at  night,  whether  we  had  work  to  do  or  not. 
I  employed  my  leisure  time  making  a  collection  of  German 
hymns  relating  to  Inner  Mission  work,  and  to  the  preparation 
of  several  Danish  tracts.  One  of  these  was  afterward  trans- 
lated into  German  and  published  together  with  a  collection 
of  hymns  by  the  Gossner  Missionary  Society. 

"When  the  period  of  my  service  in  the  Danish  army  had 
expired,  the  question  of  becoming  a  missionary  again  forced 
itself  upon  my  mind.  Just  then  my  godfather  returned  from 
India,  and  his  account  of  the  mission  work  there  led  me  to 
think  of  it  as  my  field  of  future  service.  Finally,  there  being 
no  obstacle  left  to  prevent  my  becoming  a  foreign  missionary, 
I  announced  my  decision  to  Mr.  Groenning,  telling  him  that 
his  report  of  the  needs  of  the  India  Mission  appealed  to  me  as 
a  direct  call  of  God." 

For  two  and  a  half  years  Schmidt  lived  in  Groenoing's  home, 
preparing  himself  for  work  among  the  Telugus  in  India.  Like 
Becker,  he  looked  forward  to  service  under  The  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  General  Synod  and  was  disappointed 
in  not  receiving  a  call.  Then  he  accompanied  Heyer  to  the 
United  States  and  was  ordained  by  the  Pennsylvania  Minis- 
terium  in  Trinity  Church,  Reading,  Pa.,  May  26,  1869,  with 
the  view  of  being  called  by  its  executive  committee  as  a  for- 
eign missionary  to  India.  The  call  was  extended  at  a  meeting 
of  the  committee  on  August  27th,  but  for  a  number  of  reasons 
Schmidt's  departure  was  delayed.  Meanwhile  he  served  a 
German  mission  at  Carlisle,  Pa.  Finally,  in  March,  1870, 
arrangements  for  his  departure  were  completed.  The  service 
of  commissioning  was  held  in  St.  Johannis  Church,  Phila- 
delphia, the  Rev.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  pastor.  On  March  24th 
he  sailed  from  New  York  on  the  "Rising  Star."  Several  days 


150       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

were  spent  in  Flensborg  where,  on  May  23d,  a  farewell  meeting 
was  held,  the  Rev.  C.  W.  Groenning  delivering  an  address. 
Groenning  advised  Schmidt  to  remain  in  Europe  until  the 
early  fall,  in  order  to  escape  the  hot  and  rainy  seasons  in 
India.  Acting  on  this  advice,  Schmidt  spent  some  time  visit- 
ing the  mission  institutions  at  Hermannsburg,  Barmen  and 
Basle.  He  then  proceeded  leisurely  through  Switzerland, 
Austria  and  Italy.  At  Trieste  he  heard  of  Becker's  sudden 
death  and  at  once  decided  to  run  the  risk  of  an  earlier  arrival 
in  India.  On  July  gth,  he  took  a  ship  at  Suez,  bound  for 
Madras.  At  Coconada,  where  he  arrived  August  3d,  he  was 
met  by  a  native  Christian  whom  Heyer  had  sent  to  escort 
him  to  Rajahmundry.  From  Dowlaishwaram  they  rode  in 
an  ox-cart,  arriving  at  Rajahmundry  on  August  4,  1870. 

Two  weeks  after  Schmidt's  arrival  Heyer  wrote  to  the  corre- 
sponding secretary  of  the  executive  committee,  the  Rev. 
B.  M.  Schmucker,  as  follows: 

"My  personal  affairs  render  it  necessary  that  I  should  be 
at  home  during  the  summer  of  1871 ;  otherwise  I  might  remain 
longer  in  India,  for  I  do  not  dislike  the  work,  and  the  Lord 
has,  thus  far,  vouchsafed  me  a  comfortable  measure  of  health, 
although  I  have  entered  upon  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  my 
earthly  pilgrimage.  I  have  written  to  you  about  a  young 
man  who  has  finished  his  studies  in  Copenhagen,  and  my 
opinion  is  that  his  services  should  be  engaged;  but  for  various 
reasons  it  is  also  desirable  that  a  graduate  from  some  one  of 
our  institutions  in  America  should  be  sent  out. 

"I  have  made  a  contract  for  repairing  the  old  bungalow. 
It  will  require  about  $200.  When  repaired  the  building  may 
be  used  as  a  chapel,  schoolhouse  and  dwelling. 

"Every  morning  except  Sunday  a  class  of  eight  children 
comes  to  my  room  to  learn  English.  The  most  of  them  ought 
to  be  trained  for  service  as  teachers  and  catechists. 

"We  had  formerly  a  large  English  school  in  Rajahmundry, 
with  over  one  hundred  pupils;  but  at  present  the  Government 
supplies  the  town  with  English  schools.  It  even  has  a  college 
with  eight  hundred  students. 

"A  part  of  The  Church  Book  has  already  been  translated 


HEYER   COMPLETES   HIS    LIFE-WORK    (1870)  151 

into  Telugu.  I  should  like  to  have  a  small  edition  printed, 
containing  the  church  service  and  hymns,  if  you  could  furnish 
the  necessary  funds,  say,  $75  or  $100. 

"On  the  seventh  Sunday  after  Trinity  the  Holy  Communion 
was  administered  in  Rajahmundry,  forty-five  communing." 

Thus  the  work  of  reconstruction  was  making  commendable 
progress  under  Heyer's  supervision.  A  few  weeks  after  his 
arrival  Schmidt  left  the  station,  in  order  to  visit  the  principal 
out-stations  and  gam  an  insight  at  first  hand  into  the  work 
over  which  in  a  very  short  time  he  was  to  exercise  control. 
The  catechists,  Joseph  and  Paulus,  accompanied  him  through 
their  respective  districts,  acting  as  his  interpreters.  It  must 
be  admitted  that  a  heavy  burden  of  responsibility  was  to  be 
put  on  this  young  man,  only  thirty  years  of  age,  unacquainted 
with  the  language,  the  customs  of  the  natives  and  the  work 
of  the  mission,  and  that,  despite  these  disadvantages,  he 
acquitted  himself  with  ability  from  the  very  beginning. 

On  August  24th  or  thereabouts,  a  delegation  from  Velpur 
visited  Rajahmundry  and  requested  that  a  school  be  started 
in  that  village.  Heyer  went  at  once,  travelling  in  an  ox-cart, 
and  began  mission  work  there.  Having  promised  to  visit 
Narsapur,  he  started  for  that  place  on  October  7th,  accom- 
panied by  Joseph  and  Paulus  and  a  number  of  servants. 
Captain  C.  Taylor  loaned  him  a  palankeen  for  the  journey. 

Mr.  R ,  a  government  official  in  the  Department  of 

Public  Works,  sent  his  private  house-boat  to  meet  the  mis- 
sionary six  miles  from  Narsapur,  and  had  a  tent  erected  for 
his  convenience  at  Narsapur.  Here  he  held  a  service  on 
Sunday  morning,  October  Qth,  at  which  he  baptized  19  men, 
women  and  children,  administered  the  Lord's  Supper,  and 
married  a  couple  of  native  Christians.  In  the  afternoon  he 
preached  at  Taylor's  petta  in  front  of  a  native  Christian's 
house.  On  Monday  he  went  to  Argatipalem,  where  there 
were  ten  inquirers  under  the  instruction  of  Jeremiah,  to  whose 
work  the  firstfruits  in  this  region  must  be  attributed.  One 
infant  was  baptized  at  Argatipalem.  On  Tuesday  Jagganath- 
puram  was  visited.  Here  there  were  eight  families  of  inquirers 
and  eighteen  children  in  a  mission  school.  From  Jagganath- 


152      THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

puram  he  went  to  Parravalli  by  canal  and  then  in  a  palankeen 
to  Velpur,  where  he  baptized  25  adults.  Returning  to  Parra- 
valli an  incident  occurred  on  the  way,  which  Heyer  related 
as  follows:  "I  heard  people  calling  after  me  and  was  told 
that  seven  other  candidates  had  come  from  another  village 
desiring  Holy  Baptism.  Not  wishing  to  disappoint  these 
people,  who  had  come  so  far,  I  halted  and  baptized  them,  as 
Philip  did  the  eunuch,  near  the  road  close  by  a  tank."  After 
an  absence  of  a  week  Heyer  was  back  in  Rajahmundry.  He 
considered  this  to  have  been  one  of  his  most  successful  tours 
as  a  missionary  in  India. 

On  the  last  day  of  the  year  1870,  Heyer  wrote  the  following 
report : 

"One  year  ago  I  found  one  catechist,  one  school-teacher  and 
a  dilapidated  building  at  Rajahmundry,  one  catechist,  one 
school-teacher  and  a  schoolhouse  at  Muramunda,  and  one 
schoolhouse  and  a  few  children  at  Metta.  On  Easter  Sunday, 
1870,  twenty-five  communed  at  Rajahmundry,  and  on  the  pre- 
ceding Sunday  twenty-two  at  Muramunda. 

"At  the  close  of  this  year  there  are  seven  schools,  namely,  at 
Rajahmundry,  Muramunda,  Metta,  Jegurupad,  Peddahem, 
Jagganathpuram  and  Taylor's  petta.  One  hundred  and  two 
persons  were  baptized  during  the  year.  On  Christmas  day, 
1870,  seventy  communed  at  Rajahmundry.  The  day  before 
Christmas  two  hundred  adults  and  children  gathered  around 
a  Christmas  tree,  and  on  the  day  after  Christmas,  Monday,  a 
Christmas  dinner  for  all,  consisting  of  rice  and  curry,  vege- 
tables and  mutton,  was  served  at  the  expense  of  J.  H.  Morris, 
Esq.  Presents  of  clothing,  books  and  fruits  were  distrib- 
uted to  old  and  young,  principally  at  the  expense  of  Cap- 
tain Taylor  and  his  daughter-in-law.  I  also  had  two  weddings 
and  baptized  five  adults.  Three  lads  about  sixteen  years  old 
are  being  supported  by  contributions  from  mission  friends  in 
Schleswig." 

On  January  22,  1871,  the  fourth  foreign  missionary  of  the 
General  Council,  Rev.  Iver  K.  Poulsen,  arrived  at  Rajah- 
mundry. , 


HEYER    COMPLETES    HIS    LIFE-WORK    (1870)  153 

Iver  K.  Poulsen  was  born  September  24,  1846,  at  Ringk- 
joebing,  Jutland,  Denmark,  He  was  the  seventh  of  ten 
children.  When  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age  he  became 
a  teacher  of  a  village  school  and  taught  for  three  years. 
Through  a  maternal  uncle  he  became  interested  in  foreign 
missions.  By  reading  mission  tracts  and  reports  and  by  asso- 
ciation with  two  pious  fellow- teachers  his  interest  developed 
into  the  desire  to  go  to  some  foreign  mission  field.  He  ex- 
pressed his  desire  to  the  director  of  The  Danish  Mission  So- 
ciety, and  in  August,  1865,  he  was  admitted  into  the  Mission 
Institute  of  that  society  at  Copenhagen.  In  1870  he  was 
graduated  and  at  once  offered  his  service  through  the  Rev. 
C.  W.  Groenning  to  the  General  Council  of  the  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church  hi  North  America,  as  a  missionary  at  Rajah- 
mundry,  to  take  the  place  of  his  departed  friend  Becker.  He 
was  accepted  and  called,  and  sailed  from  London  on  Septem- 
ber i,  1870.  Groenning  advanced  him  $450  for  his  travelling 
expenses.  The  voyage  to  Cape  Town  lasted  eighteen  days, 
and  ten  days  were  spent  there.  In  Madras,  which  he  reached 
January  12,  1871,  he  was  entertained  for  a  week  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Kremmer,  a  Leipsic  Society  missionary.  On  January  2ist 
he  arrived  at  Coconada,  where  Schmidt  met  him.  From 
Dowlaishwaram  they  walked  to  Rajahmundry,  arriving  on 
the  22d.  The  executive  committee  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Ministerium  had  applied  in  advance  to  the  officers  of  that 
synod  for  authority  to  ordain  Poulsen  after  his  arrival  in 
India.  In  the  presence  of  the  native  Christians  and  English 
residents,  Poulsen,  therefore,  was  ordained  at  Rajahmundry 
January  26,  1871.  Schmidt  preached  the  ordination  sermon  in 
Danish ;  the  catechists,  Joseph  and  Paulus,  read  the  Scripture 
lessons  responsively  in  Telugu ;  and  Heyer  performed  the  act 
of  ordination  in  English. 

After  the  arrival  and  ordination  of  Poulsen,  Heyer  felt  that 
he  could  leave  the  Mission  with  Schmidt  in  charge,  assisted 
by  Poulsen.  "The  New  Era"  was  about  to  sail  from  Coco- 
nada, and  Heyer  lost  no  time  in  arranging  to  sail  with  her  on 
January  3oth,  although  he  was  to  be  the  only  passenger  and 
was  obliged  to  pay  $250  for  the  voyage  to  England.  On 


154       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

April  ist  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  rounded,  and  on  the  28th 
of  that  month  the  ship  crossed  the  equator  in  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  Heyer  occupied  himself  during  the  long  voyage  by 
instructing  the  captain  and  some  of  the  crew.  On  Sunday  he 
preached  to  the  men  on  board.  "Carl  Golden,"  he  wrote,  "a 
poor  boy  who  had  been  very  much  neglected  by  his  parents 
and  who  had  got  a  very  bad  name  on  board,  being  considered 
incorrigible,  attracted  my  attention.  On  one  occasion,  when 
the  captain  had  beaten  him  with  a  thick  rope,  I  asked  for 
permission  to  try  if  I  could  do  anything  with  him.  Since  that 
time  he  is  allowed  to  leave  his  work  for  an  hour  every  morning 
and  to  come  to  my  room  to  learn  to  read,  write,  cipher  and 
repeat  the  Catechism.  I  treat  him  kindly,  and  this  seems  to 
have  made  a  more  favorable  impression  on  him  than  all  the 
whippings  he  has  hitherto  received.  Besides  this  boy  there  are 
two  elder  lads  on  board,  who  asked  for  instruction.  I  attend 
to  them  in  the  afternoon.  The  captain  himself  desires  to  learn 
French,  and  I  give  him  daily  lessons."  What  a  blessing  the 
presence  and  influence  of  this  saintly  old  missionary  brought 
to  that  ship's  crew  only  eternity  will  reveal. 

The  English  Channel  was  reached  June  i2th,  and  Heyer  at 
once  took  another  vessel  for  the  United  States.  He  spent  the 
winter  at  Somerset,  Pa.  A  call  was  extended  to  him  by  the 
congregation  at  Frostburg,  Md.,  in  April,  1872,  but  he  de- 
clined it.  The  Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania  at  its  meeting  in 
1872,  requested  him  to  visit  its  congregations  in  the  interest 
of  foreign  missions;  but  he  did  little  deputation  work.  It 
could  hardly  have  been  expected  of  a  man  of  his  advanced 
age. 

In  October,  1872,  he  was  elected  chaplain  and  house-father 
of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Philadelphia.  He  felt  that 
this  would  be  congenial  work  and  accepted  the  position. 
At  the  consecration  of  the  enlarged  Seminary  building  in 
Franklin  Square,  Philadelphia,  he  offered  the  prayer  of  con- 
secration. After  the  occupation  of  this  building  he  lived  in 
one  of  the  rooms  and  devoted  himself  to  the  duties  of  his 
office.  When  on  September  4, 1873,  the  Rev.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D., 
was  installed  as  a  professor  of  the  Seminary,  Heyer  assisted 


HEYER   COMPLETES   HIS    LIFE-WORK    (1870)  155 

at  the  service;  but  almost  immediately  afterward  he  was  con- 
fined to  his  bed  with  illness,  and  on  the  night  of  November  7, 
1873,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years,  three  months  and  twenty  days, 
he  fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  The  funeral  service  was  held  in  the 
Seminary  building  and  his  mortal  remains  were  buried  by  the 
side  of  his  wife  in  the  cemetery  at  Friedensburg,  near  Somer- 
set, Pa.  In  his  last  will  and  testament  he  remembered  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Philadelphia  and  the  Rajahmundry 
Mission. 

The  Reverend  John  Christian  Frederick  Heyer,  Doctor  of 
Medicine,  minister  of  the  True  God,  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  pastor,  preacher,  pioneer,  patriarch,  who  spent  his 
eventful  life  on  the  wild  frontiers  of  the  United  States,  in 
settled  pastorates  in  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  in  respon- 
sible positions  and  high  offices  in  several  synods,  in  the  home- 
mission  fields  of  many  states,  and  in  the  American  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Missions  among  the  Telugus  in  India — who  in  a 
brief  biography  could  do  full  justice  to  this  remarkable  man? 
We  have  made  an  effort,  however,  to  present  a  clear,  true 
picture  of  his  unique  character,  to  furnish  a  connected  descrip- 
tion of  his  unusual  career  and  to  offer  a  true  estimate  of  the 
high  value  of  his  service  in  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America, 
especially  in  connection  with  the  history  of  the  American 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Missions  in  South  India. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE   GENERAL  COUNCIL'S  MISSION  FIELD  IN   INDIA 

TURN  to  a  map  of  India  and  trace  the  coast-line  from  Cape 
Comorin  to  Calcutta.  About  half-way  between  these  two 
points  you  will  cross  the  mouths  of  the  Godavery  River,  one 
of  the  twelve  sacred  streams  of  India.  The  counties,  called 
"taluks,"  which  are  situated  on  the  right  side  of  the  Vasista 
branch  of  the  river,  as  it  flows  to  the  sea,  belong  to  the  Kistna, 
those  on  the  left  side,  to  the  Godavery  district  of  the  Madras 
Presidency.  The  territory  which  is  claimed  and  worked  by  our 
foreign  missionaries  embraces  parts  of  both  of  these  districts, 
the  whole  field  having  an  approximate  area  of  3370  square 
miles,  which  is  slightly  larger  than  the  State  of  Connecticut. 
The  estimated  population  for  whose  christianization  we  feel 
ourselves  responsible  numbers  about  two  and  a  half  millions. 

Two  other  missions,  both  of  them  Baptist  missions,  are  at 
work  in  the  Godavery  delta;  and  a  third,  conducted  by  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  with  its  center  at  Ellore,  about 
half-way  between  Guntur  and  Rajahmundry,  carries  on  its 
work  up  to  the  boundary  line  of  our  Mission.  The  Plymouth 
Brethren  Mission,  centered  at  Narsapur,  was  established  a 
few  years  before  our  own,  the  Canadian  (Ontario  and  Quebec) 
Baptist  Mission,  centered  at  Coconada,  several  years  after 
our  own  (1874).  A  number  of  the  inland  taluks  are  claimed 
and  worked  exclusively  by  our  Mission,  others  along  the  coast 
by  the  Canadian  Baptist  Mission,  while  several  are  worked 
in  part  by  our  Mission  and  in  part  by  one  or  both,  of  the 
Baptist  missions. 

The  field  of  our  Telugu  Mission  is  divided  into  mission  dis- 
tricts, designated  by  the  names  of  the  towns  in  which  the  mis- 
sionaries in  charge  of  the  district-work  reside,  or  by  the  names 
of  the  taluks  which  comprise  their  respective  districts,  as  fol- 
lows: Rajahmundry,  Korukonda,  Jaggampet,  Samulkot, 
Dowlaishwaram,  east  of  the  river;  and  Tallapudi,  Tadepalli- 

156 


THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL'S    MISSION    FIELD    IN    INDIA       157 

gudem,  Bhimawaram  and  Narsapur  districts,  west  of  the  river. 
Each  missionary  confines  his  work  to  the  district  or  districts 
over  which  he  exercises  supervision. 

The  climate  of  South  India  is  tropical.  The  Godavery  delta 
is  on  a  parallel  line  with  Southern  Mexico  and  Porto  Rico. 
During  the  cool  season,  which  begins  in  October  and  ends  in 
February,  the  average  temperature  is  about  80°  Fahrenheit. 
In  March  the  winds  from  the  south  bring  an  ever-increasing 
heat,  until  in  May,  the  hottest  month,  the  temperature  rises 
to  115°  or  even  120°  in  the  shade.  During  the  hot  season  the 
American  or  European  must  carefully  avoid  over-exposure  to 
the  direct  rays  of  the  sun.  The  wisest  course  is  to  escape  to 
the  hills  for  a  midsummer  vacation,  a  thing  which  most  of 
the  missionaries  do.  In  June  the  winds  from  the  southwest 
bring  rain-bearing  clouds,  and  about  the  end  of  the  month 
the  rainy  season  begins.  This  does  not  mean  that  there  is 
daily  rain,  but  only  that  this  is  the  season  during  which 
there  is  rain.  This  season  continues  to  about  the  middle  of 
September,  when  the  sun  crosses  the  equator.  After  a 
month  of  practically  no  rain,  the  northeast  monsoon  begins 
to  blow,  continuing  for  about  a  month  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  with  a  varying  quantity  of  rainfall. 

The  soil  of  the  Godavery  delta  is  an  alluvial  deposit,  the 
natural  fertility  of  which  is  enhanced  by  an  extensive  system 
of  canals  below  the  anicut  or  dam,  built  across  the  Godavery 
River  at  Dowlaishwaram,  forty  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the 
river  and  five  miles  from  Rajahmundry.  In  fertility  and 
wealth  the  Godavery  delta  is  surpassed  by  but  one  other 
district  in  the  Madras  Presidency. 

The  larger  portion  of  the  population  is  engaged  in  the  culti- 
vation of  the  soil  and  kindred  pursuits.  Rice  and  grain  are  the 
chief  products.  Bananas,  cocoanuts  and  other  tropical  fruits 
are  extensively  grown.  The  instruments  and  methods  of 
cultivation  are  very  primitive.  The  ordinary  plow  of  the 
native  farmer  is  nothing  but  a  crooked  piece  of  hard  wood 
pointed  at  the  end  with  a  sharpened  iron  bar.  It  is  pulled 
over  the  ground  by  a  pair  of  oxen  until  the  iron  point  has 
scratched  and  loosened  the  soil  several  inches  deep.  At  the 


158       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

time  of  harvest  the  ripened  grain  is  cut  down  with  a  sickle, 
trodden  out  by  cattle  in  the  fields,  winnowed  in  the  wind  and 
carried  in  baskets  on  the  heads  or  shoulders  of  the  farm  hands 
to  the  places  of  storage  or  market.  The  majority  of  the 
farmers  are  practically  serfs  in  the  employ  of  wealthy  land- 
holders called  zemindars,  or  they  are  in  financial  bondage 
to  money-lenders. 

The  home  of  the  average  villager  is  a  mud- walled,  thatch- 
roofed,  earthen-floored  hut  of  one  or  two  low  rooms,  in  which 
frequently  cattle,  fowl  and  other  domestic  animals,  as  well  as 
the  members  of  the  family,  are  housed.  A  few  brass  or  earthen 
pots  for  cooking  rice  or  storing  water,  and  several  mats,  made 
of  bamboo  or  palm  leaves,  spread  on  the  floor  to  serve  as  beds, 
are  the  only  furniture.  As  a  rule  children  wear  no  clothing 
until  they  are  three  or  four  years  of  age.  For  boys  scanty 
garments  made  from  the  cheapest  cotton  fabrics  are  provided. 
The  usual  garment  of  the  women  is  a  single  piece  of  cheap, 
light  material,  which  they  learn  to  wind  and  drape  around  the 
body  from  the  shoulders  to  the  ankles.  Wealth  and  position  are 
indicated  by  the  number  and  value  of  jewels  and  other  orna- 
ments worn,  especially  on  festival  occasions.  The  monthly  ex- 
pense of  a  family  of  the  middle  class  is  about  15  rupees  or  $5. 
Many  of  the  poorer  outcasts  live  on  less  than  half  as  much. 

As  elsewhere  in  India,  the  lot  of  the  women  in  the  Telugu 
country  is  deplorable.  Many  of  them  are  uneducated  drudges. 
Only  the  nautch  girls  are  educated,  in  order  that  they  may 
provide  entertainment.  A  woman  has  no  social  standing  or 
religious  destiny  apart  from  her  husband.  The  worst  mis- 
fortune that  can  befall  her  is  to  remain  unmarried.  Matri- 
monial engagements  are  made  by  parents  when  their  daughter 
is  still  a  helpless  babe,  and  before  she  reaches  the  age  of 
twelve  years  she  is  married.  If  the  boy  or  man  to  whom  the 
infant  daughter  is  engaged  to  be  married,  dies  before  the 
wedding  takes  place,  she  becomes  a  widow  to  whom  re- 
marriage is  forbidden.  The  practice  of  secluding  women  in 
zenanas  is  not  so  common  in  South  India  as  farther  north, 
but  among  the  higher  castes  it  is  in  vogue ;  and  the  Moham- 
medan portion  of  the  population  has  preserved  the  harem. 


THE    GENERAL   COUNCIL'S   MISSION   FIELD    IN   INDIA       159 

According  to  caste  the  people  may  be  conveniently  divided 
into  Brahmins  who  form  the  priestly  caste;  Vaisyas,  the 
merchant  caste ;  and  Sudras,  the  laboring  caste,  artisans  and 
agriculturists.  The  Sudras  are  more  numerous  than  all  the 
other  castes  combined.  Socially  and  in  civil  life  Moham- 
medans are  ranked  as  Sudras.  The  Kshatriyas,  the  warrior 
caste,  ranked  between  the  Brahmins  and  Vaisayas,  are  few 
in  number,  the  Telugus  having  a  less  warlike  nature  than  the 
fierce  Mahrattas  or  the  doughty  Rajputs.  The  hated  term 
"Pariah,"  formerly  used  to  designate  the  outcasts,  has  been 
displaced  by  government  decree  by  that  of  "Panchama," 
which  means  the  fifth  people.  The  Panchamas  again  are 
divided  into  Malas  and  Madigas,  the  latter  being  the  lowest 
of  the  outcasts,  so  low  that  "they  must  reach  up  to  touch 
the  bottom  of  the  social  scale."  But  God  has  chosen  the 
poor  and  the  despised  rather  than  the  rich  and  mighty  as  the 
firstfruits  of  His  saving  grace,  for  most  of  the  converts  to 
Christianity  in  India  are  Malas  and  Madigas,  who  welcome 
the  message  of  redemption  and  exaltation  through  Jesus 
Christ. 

The  Telugu  language,  enriched  by  Sanscrit  and  to  a  slight 
degree  by  Hindustani,  Arabic,  French  and  English,  is  musical 
in  sound  and  elaborate  in  form.  The  vocabulary  is  enormous, 
abounding  in  synonyms  and  in  terms  of  philosophical,  pseudo- 
scientific  and  voluptuous  character;  but  it  is  practically  des- 
titute of  words  which  can  be  used  to  express  the  spiritual 
conceptions  of  the  Christian  religion.1 

1  Pure  Telugu  is  formed  from  roots  which  in  general  have  a  close  connection 
with  the  roots  of  the  other  languages  of  South  India,  such  as  Tamil  and  Cana- 
rese.  These  cognate  languages  form  a  separate  family  of  languages,  which  is 
distinguished  by  the  term  "Dravidian." 

The  greater  part  of  Telugu  literature  consists  of  poetry,  which  is  written 
in  the  higher  dialect.  So  different  is  the  higher  dialect  from  the  dialect  used  in 
common  conversation  that  they  form  distinct  branches  of  study.  Telugu  is 
remarkable  for  its  melody  of  sound,  which  has  gained  for  it  the  name  of  the 
Italian  of  India.  It  is  regular  in  construction,  and,  though  copious,  is  often, 
like  Tamil,  very  laconic.  In  common  conversation  a  single  word  or  short 
phrase  is  often  used  to  convey  the  meaning  of  a  whole  sentence.  While  the 
language  used  in  poetry  is  uniform,  local  dialects  vary.  There  is  a  certain 
amount  of  difference  between  the  Telugu  spoken  in  Rajahmundry  and  that 
spoken  in  the  Cuddapa  district.  The  language  is  spoken  in  its  greatest  purity 
in  the  northern  circars. — Arden's  "Telugu  Grammar." 


160       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

The  original  religion  of  the  Telugus,  as  far  as  can  be  ascer- 
tained, was  nature  worship  which  degenerated  into  animal 
worship,  demon  worship,  hero  worship  and  animism.  Brah- 
minism  adopted  the  popular  cults  and  Buddhism  infused  its 
philosophical  conceptions  into  the  system.  The  result  is  a 
form  of  modern  Hinduism,  of  which  pantheism  is  the  under- 
lying principle  and  polytheism  the  universal  practice.  Maya 
or  illusion,  karma  or  fate,  the  transmigration  and  reincarnation 
of  souls,  and  nirvana  or  final  absorption  into  the  All-soul, 
are  popular  doctrines.  The  most  absurd  superstitions,  the 
grossest  sensuality,  the  subtlest  dishonesty  and  the  most  in- 
humane religious  practices  have  left  their  indelible  impress 
on  the  minds  and  lives  of  the  people.  The  burning  of 
widows  on  the  funeral  pyres  of  their  husbands,  hook-swinging 
and  the  like,  have  been  prohibited  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment; but  practices  scarcely  less  repulsive,  performed  in 
public  by  Brahmins  and  fakirs  in  the  name  of  religion,  are 
usual  occurrences.  Thus,  one  of  these  fakirs  may  be  seen 
lying  naked  on  a  bed  of  sharp  spikes,  or  walking  in  shoes 
through  the  soles  of  which  sharp  nails  have  been  driven,  or 
eating  revolting  food,  or  suffering  some  other  form  of  self- 
torture,  all  in  order  to  gain  merit  in  the  sight  of  the  gods  and 
their  devotees. 

The  most  popular  gods  of  the  Telugus  are  Krishna,  an  in- 
carnation of  Vishnu,  whose  worship  allows  licentious  prac- 
tices and  obscene  pictures;  Siva,  the  destroyer,  and  his  con- 
sort, Kali,  goddess  of  disease  and  death,  whose  image  is  as 
revolting  an  object  as  can  be  found  anywhere  on  earth.1 
Other  gods  which  are  universally  worshipped  are  Ganesha, 
the  elephant-headed  god  of  wisdom  and  good  luck,  and 

1  Kali  is  represented  as  a  naked  woman  with  a  hideous  countenance.  Her 
tongue  is  protruding  from  her  mouth.  Her  hair  is  a  mass  of  writhing  snakes. 
She  wears  a  necklace  of  human  skulls  and  a  belt  of  dead  men's  hands.  She  has 
four  arms  and  hands.  In  the  upper  left  hand  she  holds  a  drawn  dagger;  in  the 
lower  left  hand  she  holds  by  its  hair  the  head  of  a  decapitated  giant,  a  victim  of 
her  wrath;  with  the  upper  right  hand  Kali  makes  a  gesture  beckoning  her  wor- 
shippers to  draw  near  and  do  her  reverence;  with  the  lower  right  hand  she 
makes  a  gesture  warning  them  away,  lest  coming  unworthily  they  become  the 
objects  of  her  fierce  anger  and  malice.  Everything  in  connection  with  this 
image  is  intended  to  inspire  horror  and  fear.  There  is  also  a  more  benevolent 
but  less  popular  representation  of  this  goddess  of  disaster. 


THE  HINDU  GODDESS   KALI 


THE  ELEPHANT-HEADED  GOD  GAXESHA 


THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL'S    MISSION    FIELD    IN    INDIA       l6l 

Hanuman,  the  monkey-god.  So  numerous  are  the  images 
that  their  number  is  said  to  exceed  that  of  the  people;  and 
their  temples  and  shrines  may  be  found  on  every  side,  on 
hills,  under  trees,  near  springs  or  rocks,  on  the  banks  of 
rivers,  by  the  side  of  roads,  in  the  streets  of  the  cities  and  in 
the  squares  of  the  villages;  and  attached  to  each  temple  or 
shrine  is  the  attendant  priest  or  pufari,  receiving  the  offerings 
of  the  people. 

To  the  spiritually  benighted  and  morally  degraded  Telugus 
living  in  the  territory  just  described  as  our  mission  field,  the 
General  Council  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  North 
America  has  sent  and  is  still  sending  missionaries,  men  and 
women,  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  is  sup- 
porting their  work  in  behalf  of  the  christianization  of  these 
people.  Slowly  but  surely  the  truth  is  prevailing,  the  king- 
dom and  reign  of  the  Living  God  are  being  extended  and  the 
number  of  converts  to  Christianity  is  increasing;  but  the 
task  will  not  be  finished  until  there  has  been  established  a 
self-supporting,  self-governing  and  self-propagating  Telugu 
Lutheran  Church  in  the  Godavery  and  Kistna  districts  of 
the  Madras  Presidency  in  India. 


CHAPTER  IV 

STRUGGLING  FOR  EXISTENCE   (1871-74) 

HEYER  remained  at  Rajahmundry  only  one  year  and  two 
months  to  reorganize  the  Mission,  and  then  he  left  it  in  charge 
of  two  missionaries,  both  of  whom  were  young,  inexperienced, 
unfamiliar  with  the  vernacular  and  unaccustomed  to  the 
climate.  Sickness  overtook  them;  once  Poulsen's  life  hung 
in  the  balance.  The  Brahmins  opposed  them,  not,  indeed, 
with  physical  violence  but  with  subtle  arguments  and  with 
the  influence  of  their  caste  pre-eminence  and  religious  in- 
tolerance. The  Baptist  missionaries  in  adjacent  districts 
molested  them  by  enticing  away  their  native  helpers  and 
proselyting  their  converts.  The  Church  at  home  failed  to 
furnish  them  with  sufficient  funds  to  improve  the  opportuni- 
ties which  presented  themselves  for  the  extension  of  the 
Mission.  For  seven  years  they  labored  patiently  and  hopefully 
side  by  side,  waiting  for  other  missionaries  to  come  over  and 
help  them,  but  waiting  in  vain;  and  their  effort  was  little 
more  than  a  struggle  for  the  existence  of  the  Mission. 

Schmidt  and  Poulsen  lived  in  the  old  mission  house  at 
Rajahmundry  with  such  native  servants  as  were  required  to 
keep  house.  Schmidt  made  himself  reponsible  for  the  district 
mission  work,  and  Poulsen  took  charge  of  the  educational 
work. 

Early  in  1871  a  native  Christian  teacher  was  employed  at 
Jagganathpuram.  His  name  was  Jeremiah.  He  had  scarcely 
begun  his  work  in  the  village,  when  the  Brahmins  incited  a 
mob  to  burn  down  the  schoolhouse  and  drive  the  teacher 
from  the  village.  Schmidt  hastened  to  the  scene  of  the  dis- 
turbance and,  with  the  aid  of  government  officials,  restored 
order.  Thereafter  Jeremiah  was  allowed  to  live  and  labor 
without  molestation  at  Jagganathpuram.  After  the  hot 
season  Schmidt  revisited  the  place  and  went  as  far  as  Narsa- 

162 


STRUGGLING   FOR   EXISTENCE    (1871-74)  163 

pur,  where  he  baptized  13  persons,  most  of  whom  were  adults. 
On  July  ist,  at  Metta,  after  having  baptized  2  adults,  Schmidt 
performed  his  first  marriage  ceremony  in  the  Mission.  Several 
weeks  afterward  he  took  possession  of  a  site  at  Peddahem, 
secured  from  the  rajah  through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Gribble, 
the  new  assistant  collector,  and  work  was  at  once  begun  at 
this  new  point. 

In  July,  1871,  after  a  visit  to  Dowlaishwaram,  Jegurupad 
and  Muramunda,1  Poulsen  became  seriously  ill  with  bilious 
fever,  which  lasted  for  weeks.  Captain  Taylor  and  Schmidt 
nursed  him  back  to  health.  While  convalescing  he  spent  a 
few  weeks  at  Samulkot  in  the  mission  house  which  Long 
had  built,  but  which  had  long  remained  unoccupied.  Poulsen 
desired  to  be  located  there  permanently,  but  the  Committee 
and  the  General  Council,  in  1871,  withheld  their  permission, 
and  the  missionaries  continued  to  live  together  at  Rajah- 
mundry. 

In  its  report  to  the  General  Council  in  1871,  at  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  the  executive  committee  of  the  Ministerium  of  Penn- 
sylvania incorporated  the  following  statistics: 

Pupils  in 
Town  or  Village.  Teacher.  Christians.         School. 

1.  Rajahmundry William  Amurtayya 30  40 

2.  Muramunda Barnabas 40  20 

3.  Jegurupad Benjamin 25  16 

4.  Metta,  ] 

5.  Peddahem,        >• Jacob 50  20 

6.  Gowripatnam  J 

7.  Velpur Nathaniel 16  14 

8.  Narsapur Alfred      ") 

£    JataSathpuraJ  .Jeremiah}' 

11.  Peravaram 

12.  Lolla . .  20  8 


Totals 7  241  138 

North  and  northwest  of  Rajahmundry,  at  a  distance  of 
fifty  miles  and  upward,  lies  the  country  of  the  Kois  and 
Reddis,  tribes  that  differ  racially  and  linguistically  from  the 
Telugus,  having  less  civilization  and  no  caste  system.  They 
are  probably  the  remnants  of  aboriginal  tribes  whom  the  con- 
1  Here  he  baptized  an  infant,  his  first  baptism  in  the  Mission. 


164       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

quering  Telugus  in  their  day  drove  from  the  lowlands  into 
the  forest-clad  and  fever-infested  hills.  No  missionary  had 
ever  visited  them,  and  Schmidt,  believing  that  he  ought  to 
begin  work  among  them,  started  on  a  journey  northward 
from  Rajahmundry  on  January  17,  1872,  accompanied  by 
Paulus  and  Jeremiah.  They  took  along  such  medicines  as 
were  deemed  necessary  for  protection  against  the  dreaded 
mountain  fever,  and  a  number  of  firearms  and  ammunition 
for  the  tigers  and  other  wild  animals,  which  were  reported  to 
be  numerous  in  the  forests.  A  tent  and  provisions  were  sent 
on  ahead  in  a  bullock  cart  accompanied  by  coolie  bearers. 
Schmidt  rode  a  horse.  Sixteen  miles  were  covered  on  the 
first  day.  From  Purushottapatnam  the  journey  was  con- 
tinued through  Ungalur  and  Devipatnam  to  Yaimigalogudem, 
the  first  Kois  village  visited.  When  the  people  of  this  village 
heard  for  the  first  time  the  Gospel  preached  to  them  in  Telugu, 
which  they  readily  understood,  they  exclaimed:  "Manchi 
marta!  Entha  prema!"  (Lovely  words!  Wonderful  love!). 
From  Mantur  the  missionary  and  his  helpers  proceeded  by 
boat  up  the  Godavery  to  Katchalur,  a  Reddi  village.  The 
region  was  a  wild  one,  and  for  fear  of  prowling  tigers  and 
other  savage  beasts  a  fire  was  kept  burning  all  night.  The 
chief  industry  of  the  natives  was  found  to  be  the  cutting  and 
preparation  of  bamboo  wood.  Their  staple  food  was  cholam, 
a  kind  of  millet,  eaten  instead  of  rice  which  does  not  thrive  on 
the  hills.  In  order  to  reach  some  of  the  inland  villages  a  path 
had  to  be  hewn  with  an  ax  through  the  dense  jungle.  The 
natives  had  never  seen  a  white  man;  and  once,  on  approaching 
a  village,  Schmidt  found  it  deserted  and  empty,  the  villagers 
having  fled  for  fear  of  the  paleface.  They  hid  in  the  sur- 
rounding jungle,  armed  with  their  primitive  weapons,  bows, 
arrows  and  spears,  ready  to  fight  for  their  lives.  Jeremiah 
shouted  to  them  and  assured  them  that  the  white  man  had 
come  on  a  mission  of  peace,  whereupon  they  returned  to  the 
village  and  listened  to  what  the  missionary  had  to  say  to  them. 
"It  was  a  cause  of  joy  to  us  to  see  with  what  avidity  they 
received  the  Gospel,"  wrote  Schmidt.  "After  their  first 
timidity  was  overcome,  we  found  open  ears.  They  said,  'We 


STRUGGLING   FOR   EXISTENCE    (1871-74)  165 

live  like  wild  beasts,  separated  from  men.  No  one  has  cared 
for  us  or  taught  us  the  truth ;  but  now  we  will  no  longer  pray 
to  stones,  but  to  the  Living  God.'  Some  said,  'We  are  too 
ignorant  to  be  able  to  believe  in  Jesus.'  Few,  almost  none  of 
them,  can  read  or  write,  and  we  could  not,  therefore,  provide 
for  their  instruction  through  books  left  behind."  On  February 
loth,  at  Kottapilli,  the  tour  ended,  and  on  the  i6th  the  mis- 
sionary was  back  in  Rajahmundry.  Great  interest  was  shown 
by  the  Telugu  converts  when  the  experiences  of  this  tour 
among  the  Kois  and  Reddis  were  related,  and  four  teachers 
offered  themselves  and  were  sent  to  follow  up  the  work  of  the 
missionary.  All  contracted  jungle  fever.  One  died,  another 
lost  his  reason,  and  the  other  two  refused  to  remain  and 
continue  the  work. 

In  June,  1872,  a  small  church  bell  or  gong,  sent  from  Den- 
mark by  Schmidt's  brothers,  sisters  and  friends,  arrived  at 
Rajahmundry  and  was  placed  on  the  roof  of  the  mission- 
house.  Some  time  during  the  same  month,  James  and  William, 
having  been  graduated  from  the  Boys'  Boarding  School, 
began  to  read  in  the  Government  High  School  at  Rajah- 
mundry, their  support  being  continued  by  patrons  in  America. 

The  following  letter,  written  by  Father  Heyer  at  Somerset, 
Pa.,  to  his  friend,  the  Rev.  P.  Isenschmidt  of  Wilmington, 
Del.,  indicates  how  the  system  of  supporting  scholarships  in 
India  originated  in  the  General  Council: 

"Dear  Brother  in  Christ:  Gladly  will  I  answer  the  questions 
you  propose.  The  Christian  education  of  the  children  con- 
nected with  the  Mission  is  certainly  of  the  greatest  importance. 
In  this  respect  more  should  be  done  than  has  hitherto  been 
done.  Every  Sunday  school  of  our  larger  congregations  might 
bind  itself  to  care  for  one  particular  child.  There  is  no  lack 
of  children.  The  board  and  clothing  of  a  child  would  cost 
about  $18  or  $20  yearly.  The  annual  expense  of  a  student 
would  amount  to  about  $30  or  $35.  In  the  mission  school  at 
Rajahmundry  there  are  three  boys  who  ought  to  be  pre- 
pared for  the  holy  ministry.  Their  names  are  James,  Cor- 
nelius and  William.  The  first  named  is  the  most  talented  and 
is  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of  age.  The  second  is  a  son 


1 66       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

of  the  catechist  Joseph.  The  third  is  a  son  of  Ruth  who  has 
hitherto  watched  faithfully  over  her  children  in  order  to 
bring  them  up  in  the  fear  and  admonition  of  the  Lord."1 

A  new  missionary's  bungalow  was  built  at  Rajahmundry 
under  Schmidt's  supervision  in  1872,  on  a  lot  opposite  the 
mission  house.  Poulsen  took  his  bride  to  this  new  house. 
He  had  betrothed  himself  to  Henrietta  Andersen  in  Denmark 
before  leaving  for  India,  but  the  executive  committee  in 
America  had  felt  itself  financially  unable  to  send  out  a  married 
missionary  at  the  time,  and  she  remained  in  Denmark.  On 
October  n,  1872,  however,  she  was  informed  through  the 
Rev.  C.  W.  Groenning  that  the  committee  was  prepared  to 
send  her  to  India.  She  started  at  once,  leaving  Copenhagen 
on  November  22d.  From  Trieste  she  took  ship  on  December 
ist  for  Bombay,  being  the  only  woman  passenger  on  board. 
In  a  month  Bombay  was  reached.  The  overland  journey  to 
Madras  lasted  two  days  and  two  nights.  Poulsen  met  her 
there,  and  they  were  married  by  the  Rev.  C.  F.  Kremmer,  a 
Leipsic  missionary,  on  January  10,  1873.  Three  days  later 
they  started  for  Rajahmundry,  arriving  on  the  i7th.  Several 
weeks  were  spent  in  the  bungalow  at  Samulkot,  and  then  they 
accompanied  Schmidt  on  a  trip  up  the  Godavery  River.  For 
this  trip  Captain  Taylor  loaned  them  his  house-boat.  Paulus 
and  Jeremiah  again  went  with  the  missionaries.  "We  went," 
wrote  Schmidt,  "partly  to  show  those  poor  people,  the  Kois 
and  Reddis,  that  we  had  not  forgotten  them,  and  partly  to 
see  a  little  more  of  the  field."  They  visited  the  Nizam's 
tributary  kingdom,  going  as  far  as  the  Saveri,  a  branch  of 
the  Godavery.  "It  was  very  trying  to  mark  their  eagerness 
to  be  taught,"  Schmidt  reported,  "and  yet  to  be  unable  to 
promise  them  the  opportunity." 

The  year  1873  witnessed  an  important  conference  of  mis- 
sionaries laboring  among  the  Telugus,  convened  at  Rajah- 
mundry, to  undertake  the  revision  of  the  Telugu  translation 
of  the  Bible.  Schmidt,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Revision 

1  William  was  assigned  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Isenschmidt's  congregation  in  Wil- 
mington, Del.,  for  support,  and  ever  since  that  congregation  has  continued  to 
contribute  $35  a  year  for  the  support  of  a  boy's  scholarship  in  India. 


STRUGGLING   FOR   EXISTENCE    (1871-74)  167 

Committee,  was  able  to  assist  the  Committee  by  reason  of 
his  familiarity  with  the  German  and  Daaish  translations.1 

The  house  which  the  missionaries  occupied  was  the  one 
Valett  had  built  at  the  time  of  his  marriage.  It  was  in  the 
form  of  a  rectangle  and  had,  as  was  then  customary,  a  flat 
roof.  In  1873,  Schmidt  altered  it,  adding  a  light  second  story 
and  putting  on  a  shingle  roof,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  South 
India.  The  work  cost  over  $500.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  in  connection  with  this  building,  Schmidt  inaugurated 
the  scheme  ef  industrial  mission  work,  which  he  afterward 
tried  to  elaborate.  "At  my  building,"  he  wrote,  "I  engaged 
as  many  of  our  Christians  as  possible,  even  from  the  villages. 
Though  it  gave  me  much  more  trouble  to  teach  them  and, 
perhaps,  was  hardly  as  cheap  as  I  could  have  gotten  heathen 
laborers,  nevertheless  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  that  they 
profited  by  it,  and,  perhaps,  it  was  also  to  their  spiritual  gain, 
for  they  had  an  opportunity  to  come  to  our  daily  prayers  and 
Scripture  readings.  .  .  .  The  roof  is  of  shingles  of  teak  wood, 
an  unseen  thing  in  this  country.  The  first  2000  shingles  I  had 
to  put  on  with  my  own  hands  before  my  workmen  understood 
the  work.  Had  I  not  got  so  much  experience  in  building 
Brother  Poulsen's  house  last  year,  I  would  not  have  been  able 
to  succeed  with  my  house,  where  I  met  with  not  a  few  engineer- 
ing difficulties.  Long  ago  I  found  in  the  house  of  a  native 
merchant  a  circular  saw  which  I  bought  as  old  steel.  I  have 
now  also  succeeded  in  making  a  bench  for  it,  and  cut  the 
shingles  with  it.  It  is  turned  by  coolies,  and  the  whole  machine 

1  This  Revision  Committee  consisted  of  four  ordained  missionaries,  two  of 
whom  were  Americans.  Two  native  pastors  were  added  to  the  Committee. 
They  worked  for  a  month  at  Rajahmundry.  Besides  the  old  Telugu  versions 
they  used  the  Hebrew,  Septuagint,  Vulgate,  Sanscrit,  Tamil,  Canarese,  Mah- 
ratti,  Hindustani,  English,  German  and  Danish.  The  Telugu  Missions  inter- 
ested in  this  revision  and  their  relative  strength  at  that  time  are  given  in  the 
following  table: 

Adherents. 
Mission.  Missionaries.         1861.  1871. 

i.  American  Baptist,  Nellore 5  23  6418 

a.  Hermannsburg  Lutheran,  Naydupet 8  150 

3.  General  Synod  Lutheran,  Guntur 3  338  2150 

4.  General  Council  Lutheran,  Rajahmundry 2  29  320 

5.  Church  Missionary  Society,  Ellore 13  259  1882 

6.  London  Missionary  Society 5  209 

j.    Plymouth  Baptist,  Narsapur 4.  350  1000 


1 68       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL   COUNCIL 

cost  me  hardly  more  than  $10.  All  the  new  wood  I  have  used 
for  the  building  is  teak  wood.  This  is  generally  very  expensive, 
but  by  sitting  and  talking  with  the  wood  merchants  near  the 
river  for  half  a  day  at  a  time  I  managed  to  get  it  cheap.  You 
would  have  been  amused  to  have  seen  how  many  people  my 
building  attracted,  but  it  must  naturally  be  so  in  a  country 
where  every  one  will  do  only  what  and  as  his  fathers  did." 

One  of  the  twenty-two  converts  of  the  year  1873  was  a 
Sudra  mendicant  who,  after  living  for  two  months  among  the 
Christians  at  Rajahmundry,  disappeared.  A  Brahmin  who 
attended  the  mission  school,  broke  his  sacred  thread  and  ate 
with  the  Christians ;  but  he  refused  to  be  baptized  for  fear  of 
being  disinherited.  At  Samulkot  Poulsen  prepared  a  number 
of  inquirers  for  holy  baptism,  but  when  the  hour  of  decision 
came  they  held  back.  The  missionaries  reported  that  "no 
extraordinary  spiritual  movements  had  happened  in  the 
field,"  but  rejoiced  that  among  the  Christians  "the  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  going  on  with  signs  of  spiritual  life." 

On  September  16,  1873,  Schmidt  started  for  Madras, 
where  he  was  to  meet  his  fiancee"  who  was  coming  from 
Denmark.  On  the  way  he  visited  other  missions  in  order 
to  study  their  methods.  October  3d  he  reached  Guntur, 
where  he  was  entertained  by  Missionaries  Uhl,  Unangst  and 
Harpster,  and  where,  on  October  5th,  he  preached  the  sermon 
at  the  ordination  of  Pastor  Cully  who  had  been  the  catechist 
in  the  Palnad  district.  He  spent  about  a  month  with  the 
Hermannsburg  missionaries,  of  whom  there  were  ten.1  On 
reaching  Madras  he  learned  that  his  fiancee"  had  been  detained 
in  Europe  about  a  month,  and  he,  therefore,  spent  the  inter- 
vening time  farther  south,  visiting  a  number  of  missions. 

On  Christmas  Day,  1873,  Miss  Giovanni  Bleshoy  landed  at 
Bombay,  where  Missionary  Schmidt  was  waiting  for  her  to 
lead  her  to  the  altar  as  his  wife.  They  were  married  at 
Madras  by  the  Rev.  C.  F.  Kremmer  on  January  i,  1874. 
It  was  a  double  wedding,  the  other  bridegroom  being  the 

1  He  described  their  field  as  being  about  forty  miles  east  and  west  and  fifty 
miles  north  and  south,  with  missionaries  stationed  at  Gudur  (Boettcher,  Wahl, 
Kiehne),  Venkatagiri  (Theo.  Peterson),  Kalastri  (Woerrlein),  Naydupet 
(Mylius),  Sulurpet  (Scriba).  The  baptized  membership  was  260. 


STRUGGLING    FOR   EXISTENCE    (1871-74)  169 

Rev.  Mr.  Pedersen  of  the  Danish  Mission.  After  the  wedding 
the  newly  married  pair  received  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  Schmidt  reached  Rajahmundry  on  January  i7th. 

While  Schmidt  was  away  Poulsen  and  his  wife  were 
seriously  ill  with  fever.  "My  poor  wife,"  wrote  Poulsen,  "in 
spite  of  her  great  distress  and  anxiety,  was  not  only  a  nurse 
for  my  body  but  also  for  my  soul.  How  glad  I  was  when  she 
now  and  then  repeated  a  word  of  love  from  our  dear  Saviour's 
lips.  The  English  people  were  very  kind  to  her  and  to  me. 
To  Henry1  we  owe  our  greatest  thanks.  After  working  all 
day  he  would  insist  on  coming  to  me  every  night;  and  what 
he  did,  he  did  with  love." 

The  year  i8742  began  in  an  atmosphere  of  gladness  and 
hope.  Both  of  the  missionaries  had  loving  and  faithful  help- 
meets at  their  sides,  who  shared  with  them  the  discourage- 
ments as  well  as  the  joys  of  the  work.  In  the  home  of  the 
Poulsens  a  happy  event  occurred  on  February  2ist,  when  a 
daughter  was  born,  who  was  baptized  by  her  father  three  days 
afterward  and  given  the  name — Agnes  Martha  Henrietta. 

Three  teachers  were  sent  to  the  hill  country  in  January, 
1874,  two  of  whom  returned  to  Rajahmundry  within  a  month, 
sick  with  hill  fever.  The  third,  Prakasem,3  located  at  Konda- 
modalu,  near  the  gorge  of  the  Godavery,  was  visited  by 
Schmidt  in  March;  but  immediately  thereafter  he  also  was 
obliged  to  leave  on  account  of  illness.  Schmidt  made  an 
effort  to  secure  a  number  of  boys  from  the  hill  country  to  be 
educated  in  Rajahmundry,  but  he  met  with  the  opposition  of 
their  parents  who  lamented  "as  though  they  were  asked  to 
send  their  sons  to  another  world."  On  his  way  home  he  paid 
a  visit  to  Peddahem,  where  at  a  service  in  the  new  schoolhouse 
he  administered  the  Lord's  Supper  to  fifteen  persons.  So 
greatly  were  the  villagers  interested  in  the  visit  of  the  mis- 

1  Jeriprolu  Henry  was  a  native  convert  whom  Rev.  C.  W.  Groenning  had 
brought  with  him  from  Guntur  to  Rajahmundry.    He  was  the  father  of  a  large 
family  of  which  every  member  has  been  in  the  employ  of  the  Mission.     His 
wife  was  Ruth,  already  mentioned;  one  of  his  sons,  William,  is  a  native  Chris- 
tian pastor  in  the  Mission  to-day. 

2  During  1873  nine  children  and  thirteen  adults  were  baptized  by  the  mis- 
sionaries. 

3  This  man,  Namabattula  Prakasem,  is  still  in  the  service  of  the  mission. 


1 70       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

sionary  that  the  schoolhouse  was  surrounded  all  day  long 
by  them,  even  the  headman  of  the  village  attending  the 
morning  service  and  sitting  inside  the  building  among  the 
outcast  Christians. 

Early  in  1874  the  Canadian  Baptist  (Ontario  and  Quebec) 
Missionary  Society  established  its  first  station  in  the  Telugu 
country  at  Coconada  on  the  coast,  eight  miles  from  Samulkot. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  McLaurin  was  their  first  missionary.  He 
offered  to  buy  the  mission  house  at  Samulkot,  but  his  offer 
was  declined.  He  refused  to  agree  to  any  policy  of  mission 
comity  and  openly  worked  against  our  missionaries.  "I 
asked  him,"  Schmidt  reported,  "whether  we  could  and  should 
agree  that  neither  would  interfere  with  the  other's  work,  but 
he  did  not  like  to  promise  to  take  none  of  our  Christians." 

As  indicated  in  a  report  of  a  mission  conference  of  native 
Christian  teachers  in  July,  1874,  the  missionaries  instructed 
their  helpers  in  Bible  history,  church  history,  the  catechism, 
and  in  the  public  reading  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  with 
running  comments.  An  explanation  of  Luther's  Small  Cate- 
chism, prepared  and  published  by  the  Hermannsburg  mis- 
sionaries, was  introduced  at  this  time. 

By  the  close  of  the  year  the  two  hundredth  person  was 
baptized,  counting  all  who  had  received  the  sacrament  since 
the  reorganization  under  Heyer  five  years  before.  Among  the 
converts  of  1874  were  two  caste  women,  one  of  whom  had 
been  an  opium-eater  for  thirty  years.  Another  convert,  an 
old  man  living  at  Korukonda,  gave  one  of  his  houses  in  that 
village  to  the  Mission  for  school  purposes,  and  a  teacher  was 
sent  there;  but  after  repeated  attacks  of  fever  he  returned  to 
Rajahmundry.  Poulsen,  however,  regularly  visited  the  village 
to  preach  the  Gospel  at  the  times  of  the  great  festivals  there. 
When  the  wife  of  the  Korukonda  convert  became  sick,  shortly 
after  his  conversion,  the  villagers  tried  his  faith  by  asking  him 
why  it  was  that  sickness  should  enter  his  home  and  that  the 
Christian  teacher  should  have  been  obliged  to  leave  on  ac- 
count of  fever,  if  the  God  in  whom  they  believed  really  forgave 
sins  and  healed  iniquities?  Despite  their  taunts  the  convert 
remained  faithful  to  Christ.  Subsequently,  at  a  heathen 


STRUGGLING   FOR   EXISTENCE    (1871-74)  171 

festival,  Poulsen  found  the  Baptist  missionary  from  Coconada 
and  three  of  his  native  helpers  in  the  village  preaching  and 
distributing  tracts.  One  of  the  Baptist  helpers  in  a  conversa- 
tion with  the  Korukonda  convert1  told  him  that  he  was  not  a 
true  Christian,  because  he  had  not  been  properly  baptized. 
Deeply  troubled,  he  went  to  Missionary  Poulsen  for  instruc- 
tion concerning  this  matter.  "In  all  the  villages  where  we  have 
Christians,"  Poulsen  complained,  "the  Baptist  agents  try 
to  proselyte,  and  the  Baptist  missionary  contemptuously 
calls  us  and  other  Protestants  'sprinklers.' ' 

In  the  congregations  and  synods  of  the  General  Council 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  North  America  foreign 
mission  interest  and  effort  grew  very  slowly  during  the  first 
five  years  of  the  history  of  its  Telugu  Mission  in  India. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministe- 
rium,  which  had  been  appointed  by  the  General  Council  to 
act  as  its  committee  on  foreign  missions,  experienced  con- 
siderable difficulty  in  providing  sufficient  money  to  finance 
the  India  Mission.2  Regarding  the  income  it  reported,  in 

1  This  man  was  subsequently  bitten  by  a  snake  of  a  peculiarly  virulent  poi- 
son, which  caused  him  to  lose  joint  after  joint  of  fingers  and  toes,  until  death 
brought  relief.  Of  course  this  misfortune  was  attributed  to  the  power  of  the 
angry  gods.  This  incident  hindered  the  growth  of  the  Mission  for  many  years 
in  that  locality. 

2The  following  is  a  list  of  the  expenditures  during  the  first  fourteen  months: 

C.  F.  Heyer,  travelling  expenses  and  outfit $562 

C.  F.  Heyer,  salary,  October  23,  1869  to  October  23,  1870 500 

C.  F.  J.  Becker,  travelling  expenses 425 

C.  F.  J.  Becker,  salary,  February  to  May 125 

H.  C.  Schmidt,  travelling  expenses 400 

H.  C.  Schmidt,  salary,  one  quarter 125 

I.  K.  Poulsen,  travelling  expenses 450 

Salary  of  two  catechists,  n  months,  at  $7.50  each 165 

Repairs  and  taxes 59 

Repairs  contracted  for 200 

Total $3011 

With  regard  to  the  money  due  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  which  had 
paid  the  catechists'  salaries  before  the  transfer  of  the  Mission  to  the  General 
Council,  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  passed  the 
following  resolution,  April  5, 1870:  "Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  be  instructed 
to  apply  to  the  General  Synod  for  their  proportion  of  the  money  due  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  and  the  treasurer  be  authorized  to  pay  our  part,  and  that, 
if  the  General  Synod  refuses,  to  pay  the  whole."  It  appears  that  the  whole 
indebtedness  amounted  to  $178,  in  gold,  which  the  Executive  Committee 
eventually  paid  in  full. 


172       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

1870,  to  the  General  Council  as  follows:  "Your  committee 
has  with  great  difficulty  secured  the  money  to  meet  the  ex- 
penses. From  most  of  the  synods  not  a  cent  has  been  received. 
The  treasurer  of  the  General  Council,  Mr.  C.  F.  Norton,  ad- 
vanced $896.69,  which  has  not  yet  been  repaid  in  full.  The 
resolution  of  the  General  Council  last  year,  'that  the  General 
Council  pledges  itself  vigorously  and  faithfully  to  support  the 
foreign  mission  work/  greatly  encouraged  your  committee  at 
the  beginning  of  the  year;  but  they  greatly  regret  that  their 
hopes  and  expectations  have  been  realized  to  so  small  an 
extent."  Nevertheless  the  committee  managed  to  make  ends 
meet. 

During  the  year  1870-71  the  income  rose  from  $2480.49 
to  $3065.  and  the  expenditures  from  $2065.74  to  $2861.22. 
The  New  York  Ministerium  again  contributed  liberally  during 
this  year.  The  next  year  the  contributions  amounted  to 
$4352.11,  the  expenditures  to  only  $2276.29,  leaving  a  bal- 
ance of  $2279.50.  The  account  from  year  to  year  continued 
to  show  a  balance,  due,  as  one  can  readily  see,  not  so  much 
to  a  steady  increase  of  income  as  to  the  enforcement  of  econ- 
omy in  the  mission  work. 

The  expenditures  in  India1  were  greater  than  the  amount  of 
the  remittances  from  America.  They  were  met,  however,  by 
contributions  of  friendly  English  residents  in  Rajahmundry, 

1  The  following  is  an  exhibit  of  all  expenditures  in  India: 

1872.  1873.  1874. 

Rs.       As.  Ps.  Rs.       As.  Ps.  Rs.       As.  Ps. 

Salaries  of  missionaries 2574     . .    . .  4000     . .    . .         4244 

Salaries  of  catechists 500     15     6  500     ..    ..           480 

Travelling  expenses 147      67  125      9    9 

Hill  allowance 20 

Support  of  pupils  by  Sunday 

schools 184     ..    ..  340     ..    ..           420 

Rebuilding  Poulsen's  house 1597      3     2 

Dr.  Heyer's  class 10 

Easter  presents  to  helpers 68 

Repairs  to  mission-house 928 

Taxes,  postage,  etc 30     ....             12      6    6 

Repairs,  taxes,  building 764      7     8 

Deficit 199     . .    . .  736     ....            459      6     9 


Totals 5283      9    o        6554  6505     14    8 

During  these  years  the  value  of  a  rupee  was  estimated  to  be  50  cents. 


STRUGGLING   FOR   EXISTENCE    (1871-74)  173 

by  the  rental  of  the  bungalow  at  Samulkot,  and  by  special 
efforts  on  the  part  of  Schmidt  who  actually  resorted  to  the 
sale  of  photographs  and  the  repair  of  watches,  sewing  machines 
and  other  mechanical  devices  in  order  not  to  create  a  mission 
indebtedness. 

The  salaries  of  the  missionaries  were  increased  after  their 
marriage,  each  receiving  Rs.  2000  or  $1000  a  year.  The 
salaries  of  the  catechists  amounted  to  Rs.  500,  each  receiving 
Rs.  250  or  $125  a  year.  A  third  item  of  expenditure  which 
bulked  large  was  for  building  and  repairs. 

The  Pennsylvania  Minis  terium's  Executive  Committee  on 
Missions  and  Education  continued  to  direct  the  affairs  of  the 
Mission  in  India  until  the  year  1876.  This  committee  con- 
sisted of  the  four  officers  of  the  synod,  the  president  of  the 
synod  being  ex-officio  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  the 
five  presidents  of  conferences  and  ten  additional  members, 
five  ministers  and  five  laymen,  elected  annually.  The  treasurer 
of  the  General  Council  was  the  treasurer  of  the  foreign  mis- 
sion funds.1 

1  Those,  therefore,  to  whom  the  care  and  control  of  the  Telugu  Mission  were 
entrusted  during  this  period  were  the  Rev.  C.  W.  Schaeffer,  D.  D.,  chairman 
from  1869  to  1873;  the  Rev.  E.  Greenwald,  D.  D.,  chairman  from  1873  to  1876; 
the  Rev.  B.  M.  Schmucker,  D.  D.,  English  secretary  from  1869  to  1875;  the 
Rev.  J.  Fry,  D.  D.,  English  secretary  in  1876;  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Kuendig,  German 
secretary  from  1869  to  1873; tne  RCV-  S.  K.  Brobst,  German  secretary  from  1873 
to  1876.  Although  the  secretaries  of  the  synod  were  members  of  the  committee, 
the  committee  annually  elected  its  own  English  and  German  secretaries.  Others 
who  served  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period  on  this  committee  were  the  Revs. 
B.  W.  Schmauk,  F.  Waltz,  J.  W.  Hassler,  H.  Grahn,  F.  J.  F.  Schantz,  G.  F. 
Spieker  and  Mr.  A.  T.  Geissenhainer,  all  by  virtue  of  their  offices  in  the  synod. 
The  laymen  most  prominently  connected  with  the  work  of  the  committee  were 
Messrs.  H.  H.  Muehlenberg,  M.  D.,  H.  Trexler,  F.  Lauer,  A.  W.  Potteiger, 
H.  L.  Mattes  and  John  Endlich. 


CHAPTER  V 

DISHEARTENING  DIFFICULTIES   (1875-77) 

THE  years  1875  to  1877  were  crowded  with  disheartening 
difficulties.  Famine  and  cholera  prevailed  in  the  land.  Both 
of  the  missionaries  were  ill  with  jungle  fever  much  of  the 
time.  Little  progress  was  made  in  the  mission  work. 

Schmidt  clung  to  the  hope  of  establishing  a  number  of  out- 
stations  in  the  hill  country.  Undaunted  by  his  previous 
failures,  he  started  on  another  trip  up  the  Godavery  River 
in  February,  1875,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  in  Captain 
Taylor's  house-boat.  This  time  he  went  farther  than  before, 
but  jungle  fever  stopped  his  progress  into  the  interior  of  the 
Nizam's  kingdom  and  drove  him  in  haste  back  to  Rajah- 
mundry;  eleven  in  his  party,  including  himself  and  his  wife, 
were  sick  with  fever.  He  was  seriously  ill  for  months,  and 
years  elapsed  before  he  fully  recovered.  After  having  returned 
from  a  vacation  at  the  sea-shore,  he  undertook  the  building  of 
a  house-boat  for  the  Mission  at  his  own  expense.  Meanwhile 
Poulsen  took  charge  of  the  district  work;  but  while  on  a  visit 
to  Korukonda  in  October,  that  year,  he  also  contracted  the 
jungle  fever.  He  recovered  from  it  more  rapidly  than  his 
co-laborer.1 

While  at  Velpur  in  November,  1875,  Poulsen  found  the  Bap- 
tists there  pursuing  their  usual  tactics.  "Our  Baptist  neigh- 
bors," Schmidt  remarked,  "have  lots  of  money.  They  almost 
buy  our  people;  and,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  many  cannot  resist 
the  temptation.  A  teacher  whom  we  paid  Rs.  7  a  month  but 
whom  we  excommunicated  on  account  of  adultery,  they  em- 
ployed, paying  him  Rs.  20,  almost  three  times  as  much.  Now 
they  have  five  or  six  missionary  families  in  our  field,  one  living 

1  Poulsen  ascribed  his  speedy  recovery  to  a  nourishing  diet.  Even  Poul- 
sen's  horse  got  the  fever.  "The  heathen,"  he  wrote,  "go  to  their  stupid  native 
doctors,  who  tell  the  fever  patients  that  they  must  starve.  As  a  consequence 
some  actually  die  of  starvation  rather  than  of  fever." 

174 


"RIVERDALE" 

Missionary's  home  at  Rajahmundry. 

This  house  was  built  by  Dr.  H.  C.  Schmidt,  who  occupied  it  with  his  family.     It  was 

the   home   of    Dr.    and   Mrs.    J.    H.    Harpster   during   their   residence   in 

Rajahmundry.      It  is  now  occupied  by  women   missionaries. 


"THE  DOVE  OF  PEACH" 
House-boat   built  by    Dr.    H.   C.    Schmidt 


"THE  AUGUSTAXA" 

A  mission   house-boat,   of   which  there  are  now  three  in   the   mission.     In   these  boats 
the  missionaries  travel  through  the  canals  from  village  to  village. 


DISHEARTENING   DIFFICULTIES    (1875-77)  J75 

at  Samulkot.  I  cannot  accept  it  as  a  comfort  when  a  Baptist 
tells  me  that  people  taken  by  them  are  still  the  fruits  of  our 
work  and  that,  when  the  Lord  will  come  in  judgment,  He 
will  give  us  and  not  them  the  crowns  for  these  converts." 

Some  time  in  January,  1876,  Schmidt  left  Rajahmundry  for 
Madras,  on  the  advice  of  his  physician.  There  he  and  his  wife 
lived  for  a  while  in  the  mission  house  of  the  Leipsic  Society, 
its  missionary  having  returned  to  Germany  on  furlough. 
They  returned  to  Rajahmundry  in  April,  greatly  benefited  by 
the  change  in  environment  and  by  the  superior  medical 
treatment.  For  the  next  few  months  Schmidt  devoted 
himself  entirely  to  the  building  of  the  house-boat.  The 
boarding-school  boys  and  native  Christians  were  employed 
as  carpenters  and  blacksmiths.  "The  Dove  of  Peace,"  as 
the  boat  was  afterward  named,  was  40  feet  long  and  12  feet 
wide.  A  cabin  with  seven  windows  and  a  skylight  was  built 
near  the  bow.  Amidships  were  a  dining-room  and  a  bath- 
room. At  the  stern  were  the  kitchen  and  the  quarters  for  the 
natives.  Selected  teak  wood  was  used  in  the  construction  of 
every  part.  When  the  boat  was  finished  it  was  launched 
under  Schmidt's  supervision.  The  river  bank  was  fully  half 
a  mile  away,  and  everyone  said  that  he  could  not  get  the  boat 
safely  from  the  yard  to  the  river.  "Nobody  believed  in  me 
as  a  ship-builder,  my  good  wife  not  excepted,"  wrote  Schmidt. 
"When  I  caulked  the  boat  before  moving  it,  they  predicted 
that  this  work  would  be  in  vain,  because  of  the  shaking  the 
boat  would  get  on  the  way  to  the  river.  When  the  day  for 
the  launching  came  I  had  a  bad  attack  of  fever.  Early  in  the 
morning  I  commenced  the  task  with  one  hundred  men.  Large 
beams  were  fastened  across  the  vessel.  Trees  which  stood 
in  the  way  were  cut  down.  A  gate  and  a  part  of  a  fence  were 
removed.  At  8  o'clock  I  had  to  lie  down  and  thereafter 
remained  in  bed.  My  wife  informed  me  from  time  to  time 
how  they  got  on,  and  I  gave  my  orders  from  my  bed  through 
her.  At  4  o'clock  the  boat  was  in  the  water.  She  did  not  leak 
a  drop !"  It  must  have  been  like  playing  chess  blindfolded 
and  winning  the  game. 

The  "Dove  of  Peace"  made  her  maiden  voyage  up  the 


176       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Godavery,  towed  by  a  steamer,  on  August  4,  1876,  the  day 
of  the  sixth  anniversary  of  Schmidt's  arrival  at  Rajahmundry. 
It  cost  Rs.  600  to  build  the  boat,  which  the  missionary  paid 
out  of  his  private  purse,  securing  the  necessary  funds  by  sell- 
ing photographs  and  by  disposing  of  some  property  which  he 
had  bought  at  Dowlaishwaram.  He,  therefore,  claimed  the 
boat  as  his  personal  property,  and  the  Executive  Committee 
allowed  the  claim,  granting  him,  moreover,  the  sum  of  $40 
a  year  for  the  wages  of  a  captain. 

Seventy-two  Christians,  representing  fourteen  families, 
were  connected  with  the  congregation  at  Rajahmundry  in 
1876;  but  the  old  mission  house  in  which  they  worshipped, 
was  falling  into  a  state  of  decay  and  needed  rebuilding. 
Schmidt  appealed  to  friends  in  Schleswig,  who  sent  him  about 
$300.  The  Executive  Committee  in  America  also  appealed 
for  funds  and  authorized  the  reconstruction  of  the  old 
building.  This  gave  the  missionary  an  opportunity  to  con- 
tinue his  industrial  school.  Carpenter-  and  blacksmith-shops, 
a  saw-pit  and  a  lumber-yard  were  soon  located  in  the  mission 
compound,  which  again  began  to  be  a  place  of  great  activity, 
much  to  the  joy  of  the  missionary. 

Another  pet  project  inaugurated  by  Schmidt,  in  1876,  was 
the  purchase  of  land  for  the  endowment  of  congregations.  He 
began  by  securing  some  land  at  Velpur  and  permitting  the 
Christians  to  cultivate  it,  with  the  understanding  that  they 
were  to  pay  for  their  several  portions  in  three  or  four  years. 
He  also  loaned  small  sums  of  money  to  them  without  interest. 
Because  of  its  bearing  on  the  history  of  the  Mission,  Schmidt's 
scheme  of  land  endowment  ought  to  be  understood.  In  a 
letter  to  the  corresponding  secretary  of  the  committee  in 
America,  the  Rev.  B.  M.  Schmucker,  D.  D.,  under  date  of 
October  12,  1876,  he  outlined  the  scheme  as  follows:  "The 
heathen  temples  are  richly  endowed  with  land ;  but  our  present 
government  upholds  only  the  old  endowments  and  gives  no 
land  to  temples  or  churches  now.  In  considering  all  this,  I 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  would  be  best  to  procure  land 
in  connection  with  the  native  churches.  I  shall  work  toward 
that  object;  but  it  is  evident  that  I  can  do  very  little  personally. 


DISHEARTENING    DIFFICULTIES    (1875-77)  1 77 

As  far  as  I  can  see  now,  it  would  require  $600  to  procure  land 
sufficient  for  the  support  of  a  native  pastor,  with  the  pay  our 
native  catechists  receive,  and  at  least  $400  for  a  lower  grade 
of  workers.  This  means  to  buy  land  when  there  is  an  oppor- 
tunity to  get  it  cheap.  We  would  then  have  to  build  a  small, 
substantial  church,  and  procure  proper  documents  that  such 
and  such  land  belongs  to  this  or  that  church,  and  that  the 
minister  who  should  be  supported  by  it  must  belong  to  the 
Lutheran  Church.  Other  rules  for  management  could  be 
added,  as  that  every  member  should  have  to  work  certain 
days  of  the  year  for  his  minister,  etc.  The  advantages  of  such 
arrangement  would  be:  i.  That  independent  native  churches 
would  be  established;  2.  That  the  increase  of  the  minister's 
salary  would  depend  on  the  help  of  the  congregation,  and 
that  he,  therefore,  would  have  to  care  for  them  as  well  as 
they  for  him.  The  qualifications  of  the  minister  would,  in 
course  of  time,  also  depend  on  the  pay  they  raise  for  him.  3. 
That  a  more  brotherly  feeling  would  exist  between  the  mis- 
sionary and  his  native  ministers  in  spite  of  difference  in  pay, 
as  each  would  draw  his  pay  from  his  own  country  and  remain 
a  son  of  his  own  soil,  and  the  one  would  no  longer  be  the 
servant  of  the  other.  We  would  begin  with  our  present 
catechists,  though  they  would,  perhaps,  prefer  ready  money. 
We  would  then  require  $1200,  and  perhaps  two  rich  men  or 
two  rich  congregations  in  America  would  like  to  give  us  that 
sum.  Some  may  say  that  such  arrangements  would  entangle 
the  minister  in  worldly  business.  To  such  I  would  say: 
i.  That  St.  Paul  could  earn  his  daily  bread  and  still  be  an 
Apostle,  while  in  our  case  the  minister  would  only  have  to 
get  his  land  cultivated  by  others;  2.  That  the  emoluments  of 
the  ministers  in  Denmark  are  of  that  kind,  and  perhaps  in  all 
Europe;  3.  That  this  leaves  sufficient  room  for  the  congre- 
gation to  act  differently  afterward,  as  it  would  provide  for 
only  a  small  pay  and  either  more  land  or  ready  money  would 
have  to  be  added.  An  endowment  of  this  kind  must  remain 
Lutheran  even  after  every  Lutheran  missionary  would  be 
gone." 
In  1876  Schmidt  and  Poulsen  agreed  on  a  division  of  the 


178       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

mission  field.  The  former  chose  Paulus  as  his  catechist;  the 
latter,  Joseph.  Besides  the  congregation  at  Rajahmundry, 
Schmidt  took  charge  of  Dowlaishwaram,  where  there  were 
nine  Christians;  Velpur,  where  there  were  thirty- two;  Jagga- 
nathpuram,  where  there  were  sixteen;  Mallipudi,  where  there 
was  one  family;  and  Argatipalem.  All  of  these  were  south  of 
Rajahmundry.  His  out-stations  to  the  north  were  Metta, 
where  there  were  three  Christians;  Gowripatnam,  where  there 
were  ten;  and  Peddahem,  where  there  were  sixteen.  He  also 
made  himself  responsible  for  the  work  in  the  hill  country, 
whither  he  sent  a  teacher,  paying  him  twice  the  salary  usually 
paid  this  grade  of  workers,  and  made  another  attempt  to 
visit  the  villages  of  the  Kois  and  Reddis,  but  with  no  other 
results  than  renewed  attacks  of  jungle  fever. 

Poulsen's  out-stations  were  Muramunda,  where  there  were 
thirty-eight  Christians  and  a  school  of  ten  children;  Jeguru- 
pad,  where  there  were  twenty-seven  Christians  and  a  school 
which  was  taught  by  the  Muramunda  teacher,  who  devoted 
his  mornings  to  the  one  village  and  his  afternoons  to  the  other ; 
Dulla,  where  a  Sudra  who  afterward  became  an  evangelist, 
was  baptized  in  187 5;*  Peravaram,  where  there  were  fourteen 
Christians  and  a  school  of  six  children;  Lolla,  where  there  was 
a  Christian  family;  and  Amalapur,  a  large  village  nearer  the 
coast,  in  which  the  Baptists  were  very  aggressive.  Other 
places  which  Poulsen  visited  were  Samulkot,  Jaggampet, 
Gokavaram,  Rajanagaram  and  Korukonda.  For  some  time 
a  teacher  was  stationed  at  Korukonda.  He  afterward  went 
over  to  the  Baptists. 

The  Boys'  School  at  Rajahmundry  was  in  charge  of  Poulsen, 
assisted  by  Paulus  and  Joseph.  It  was  a  primary  school  which 
enrolled  thirty  pupils,  six  of  whom  occupied  "the  boarding 
house,"  a  small  building  in  Poulsen's  compound.  Three  of 
them  attended  the  Government  College,2  the  others  the 

1  Having  broken  his  caste  by  becoming  a  Christian,  his  wife  left  him  and 
with  their  child,  returned  to  her  mother's  home. 

2  William,  James  and  Raya  Paradesi.     Some  years  later  the  last  named  lost 
his  reason  and  was  placed  in  an  asylum  at  Vizagapatam,  where  he  is  still  liv- 
ing.   His  wife,  Anna,  became  a  Bible  woman  in  the  zenana  work.     She  died 
of  cholera  in  1912. 


DISHEARTENING   DIFFICULTIES    (1875-77)  179 

Third  Elementary  School  in  the  town.  All  of  the  boarders 
came  to  Poulsen's  house  several  times  a  week  for  one  or  two 
hours  in  the  morning  to  receive  religious  instruction. 

The  whole  number  of  baptisms  in  the  Mission  from  1869  to 
1876  was  272.  The  losses  by  death,  removal  and  backsliding 
during  that  period  amounted  to  40.  The  number  of  native 
Christian  workers  had  remained  about  stationary  since  the 
beginning;  but  only  one  of  the  teachers  in  mission  employ  in 
1869  remained  in  1876.  So  slow  had  been  the  progress  of  the 
work  that  Schmidt  wrote  in  1876:  "Ever  since  Mr.  Groenning 
and  Mr.  Long  ceased  their  work  in  Rajahmundry,  this  station 
and  Samulkot  have  given  the  impression  of  decline  and  decay. 
The  property  of  the  Mission  and  the  number  of  Christians 
remain  almost  in  statu  quo.  We  do  little  more  than  keep  our 
Mission  alive." 

During  1876  and  1877  a  fearful  famine,  accompanied  by 
cholera  and  other  diseases,  prevailed  in  South  India.1  The 
Godavery  district  was  not  so  severely  affected  as  the  districts 
farther  south ;  yet  in  Rajahmundry  the  price  of  provisions  rose 
rapidly,  and  throughout  the  district  cholera,  small-pox  and 
fever  claimed  many  victims.  There  was  much  suffering  and 
distress.  From  one  of  Schmidt's  letters  we  quote  the  following 
description:  "I  had  a  number  of  jewels  for  which  I  advanced 
money  to  distressed  persons,  both  Christians  and  heathen. 
As  I  do  not  exact  interest,  it  is  a  great  help  to  the  poor  people. 
Many  are  reduced  to  skin  and  bones.  I  should  not  wish  you 
to  witness  the  sights  we  see  every  Sunday,  the  day  I  have 
appointed  for  the  poor  to  come  and  receive  their  mites.  In 
the  south  it  must  be  terrible.  That  mothers  offer  their  off- 
spring for  sale  frequently  happens.  Lately  poor  wretches  have 
even  been  found  eating  human  flesh.  The  hand  of  the  Lord 
lies  heavily  upon  this  land;  but  a  movement  toward  the  True 
God  is  nowhere  to  be  noted."  Nevertheless  the  charitable 
conduct  of  the  missionaries  and  foreign  residents  won  the 
gratitude  and  goodwill  of  the  natives  and  opened  new  doors 
of  opportunity  for  mission  work. 

1  It  was  estimated  that  5,000,000  people  died  of  starvation  during  1877  in 
South  India. 


l8o       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

The  most  notable  incident  of  the  work  of  1877  was  the  con- 
version of  P.  Venkataratnam,  a  Sudra.  Poulsen  baptized 
him  in  July,  that  year,  at  Peravaram,  where  he  had  been  a 
government  teacher  for  six  years.  His  conversion  aroused 
the  enmity  of  his  relatives,  caste  people,  to  such  an  extent 
that  they  sought  by  every  possible  means  to  get  him  away 
from  the  missionaries.  They  followed  the  house-boat  in  which 
Poulsen  took  him  from  Peravaram  to  Rajahmundry,  and  met 
it  at  the  landing-place,  accompanied  by  a  crowd  of  two  hundred 
persons,  intent  on  getting  Ratnam  away.  Schmidt  secured  an 
escort  of  police  who  conducted  Ratnam  in  safety  to  the  mis- 
sion house.  There  he  was  confronted  by  his  relatives,  but 
he  told  them  that  he  had  become  a  Christian  because  he 
believed  in  Christ  as  the  Saviour,  and  exhorted  them  to  be- 
come Christians.  They  pleaded  with  him,  mocked,  scolded 
and  threatened  him,  but  all  to  no  avail. 

M.  William  became  teacher  at  Jegurupad  in  1877 ;  Peter,  the 
same  year,  being  twenty- two  years  of  age,  took  charge  of  the 
school  at  Muramunda.  B.John,  of  the  same  age  as  Peter,taught 
a  school  of  five  children  at  Peravaram.  Schmidt  summed  up 
the  results  of  the  work  of  the  year  1877  as  follows:  "With 
fear  and  trembling  we  entered  the  year.  The  future  seemed 
so  threatening!  The  terrible  famine  had  begun,  accompanied 
by  cholera  and  small-pox.  A  time  of  severe  trial  lay  before  us ; 
yet  God  in  His  goodness  preserved  us,  while  many  around  us 
fell  victims  to  the  famine  and  to  disease.  In  our  neighbor's 
house  all  but  one  died  of  cholera.  Our  hearts  are  filled  with 
praise  and  thanksgiving  to  God.  To  the  south,  where  they 
looked  so  long  for  rain,  it  rained  recently  so  much  that  in 
places  there  were  great  floods.  Here  we  have  had  but  little 
rain;  in  Rajahmundry  none  for  two  months.  The  harvest  is  a 
total  failure  except  where  the  canals  furnished  water  for  the 
fields,  and  even  there  only  a  half-crop  was  harvested.  At 
our  church  building  we  employed  a  number  of  famine  sufferers, 
and  we  also  gave  our  teachers  a  little  extra  pay  because  of  the 
famine.  The  church  has  already  cost  Rs.  1800  and  is  not 
finished.  For  two  months  we  stopped  building  operations 
on  account  of  other  work.  On  tour  Brother  Poulsen  and  I 


DISHEARTENING   DIFFICULTIES    (1875-77)  l8l 

were  able  to  spend  more  time  than  usual,  each  devoting  ex- 
actly one  hundred  days  to  travelling.  We  had  a  very  happy 
Christmas;  yet  because  of  the  famine  fewer  people  came  from 
the  surrounding  villages.  As  usual,  the  English  judge,  a 
friend  of  our  Mission,  gave  a  feast  of  good  things  on  Christmas, 
which  two  hundred  people  attended.  Around  our  large 
Christmas  tree,  with  its  75  candles,  seventy-nine  children 
gathered.  Each  got  a  garment,  a  bag  of  cakes,  an  orange  and 
a  plaything.  A  number  of  garments  which  had  been  sent  to 
my  wife  from  friends  and  relatives  in  Denmark,  were  dis- 
tributed by  her  to  those  of  her  sewing  class  who  had  been 
regular  in  attendance.  Our  services  were  held  in  the  incom- 
plete church,  eighty  persons  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
on  Christmas.  During  the  year  we  baptized  thirty-eight  per- 
sons." 

The  General  Expense  Accounts  of  the  Mission  show  ex- 
penditures, in  1875,  to  the  amount  of  $2651.07;  in  1876,  $3432; 
in  1877,  $4343 -1 

Only  $500  more  than  the  salaries  of  the  missionaries  were 
sent  to  India  from  America  in  1875,  and  again  in  1876;  but  in 
1877,  $2000  in  addition  to  the  salaries  were  sent,  which  wiped 
out  the  deficit  and  left  a  balance  of  $54  in  the  mission  treasury 
at  the  close  of  the  year. 

A  notable  event  of  the  year  1876  was  the  visit  of  the  Rev. 
C.  W.  Groenning  to  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of 
urging  upon  the  General  Council  a  more  liberal  and  energetic 
support  of  its  Mission  in  India.  He  delivered  an  impressive 
and  effective  address  at  its  meeting  in  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  and 
preached  in  a  number  of  churches.  As  a  result  of  his 
agitation  the  home  administration  was  reorganized,  and,  as 

1  The  accounts  in  detail  are  as  follows: 

1875.  1876.  1877. 

Salary,  Schmidt $1000.00  $1000.00  $1000.00 

Salary,  Poulsen looo.oo  looo.oo  looo.oo 

Expenses,  Schmidt's  account 890.00  896.00 

Expenses,  Poulsen's  account 315.00  325.00 

Expenses,  Schmidt's  and  Poulsen's 637.80 

Church  building 600.00 

Deficit 13-27  227.00  522.00 

Totals $2651.07    $3432.00    $4343.00 


182       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

just  noted,  $2000  instead  of  $500  were  sent  to  India  in  1877 
for  the  mission  work. 

In  concluding  its  report  to  the  General  Council  in  1876,  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  recom- 
mended the  appointment  of  a  special  committee  for  Foreign 
Missions,  inasmuch  as  the  large  membership  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  their  residences  in  widely  separated  places,  and 
the  fact  that  the  home  mission  and  educational  interests  of  the 
Ministerium  demanded  almost  all  of  the  committee's  time  and 
attention,  made  it  practically  impossible  for  the  committee 
to  do  full  justice  to  the  cause  of  foreign  missions.  Further- 
more, it  was  recommended  that  a  General  Secretary  be  called, 
who  should  give  his  entire  time  to  the  interests  of  the  foreign 
mission  work  of  the  General  Council,  furnish  mission  news, 
visit  the  meetings  of  synods  and  conferences  and  awaken  and 
maintain  a  greater  interest  in  the  cause.  A  third  recommen- 
dation of  the  committee  called  for  a  more  intimate  relation 
between  the  "Missionsblatt,"  edited  and  published  in  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.,  by  the  Rev.  A.  E.  Frey,  and  the  Mission  in  India, 
and  suggested  that  an  English  paper  be  published  to  further 
the  interests  of  the  India  Mission.  The  General  Council 
acted  only  on  the  first  recommendation.  It  elected  the  fol- 
lowing Committee  on  Foreign  Missions:  The  Revs.  A.  Spaeth, 
D.  D.,  H.  Grahn,  B.  M.  Schmucker,  D.  D.,  F.  Wischan, 
J.  A.  Kunkleman  and  Messrs.  Wm.  H.  Staake  and  J.  C.  File. 
This  committee  met  at  the  Seminary  on  Franklin  Square, 
Philadelphia,  and  organized  on  October  31,  1876,  by  electing 
the  Rev.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  Chairman,  the  Rev.  B.  M. 
Schmucker,  D.  D.,  English  Recording  and  Corresponding 
Secretary,  and  the  Rev.  F.  Wischan,  German  Recording  Secre- 
tary. The  former  arrangement,  according  to  which  the 
Treasurer  of  the  General  Council  was  also  the  Treasurer  of 
the  Foreign  Mission  Fund,  was  continued.  William  H. 
Staake,  Esq.,  a  member  of  the  committee,  was  the  newly 
elected  incumbent  of  that  office.  This  committee  met  regu- 
larly at  the  Seminary  on  the  afternoon  of  the  fourth  Monday 
of  each  month,  and  addressed  itself  at  once  to  the  task  of  in- 
creasing the  income  for  foreign  missions.  It  sought  to  do 


DISHEARTENING    DIFFICULTIES    (1875-77)  183 

this,  first,  by  making  appeals  through  the  church  papers; 
secondly,  by  an  effort  to  secure  the  sum  of  $1000,  which 
Father  Heyer  had  bequeathed  to  the  Rajahmundry  Mission; 
and,  thirdly,  by  an  attempt  to  secure  from  the  editor  of  the 
"Missionsblatt"  the  sums  which  he  had  received  for  foreign 
missions.  He  was  holding  these  funds  until  the  Committee 
should  call  and  send  an  additional  missionary,  claiming  that 
they  had  been  collected  for  that  purpose  only.  The  mis- 
sionaries in  India  also  urged  the  sending  of  reinforcements 
in  the  following  words:  "We  would  gladly  have  from  the 
General  Council  more  than  resolutions.  We  would  have  an 
embodied  resolution — a  real  flesh  and  blood  missionary." 
The  efforts  of  the  new  committee  were  successful,  at  least  as 
far  as  the  increase  of  foreign  mission  contributions  was  con- 
cerned, for  the  report  of  the  Treasurer  at  the  eleventh  con- 
vention of  the  General  Council  at  Philadelphia  in  October, 
1877,  showed  receipts  for  foreign  missions  amounting  to 
$5877.41,  as  compared  with  $2974.46  during  the  previous 
year. 


CHAPTER  VI 

IMPORTANT  EVENTS   (1878-79) 

THE  conversion  of  the  old  mission  house,  erected  by  Valett 
in  1845,  mto  a  church,  was  an  important  event  in  the  history 
of  the  Rajahmundry  Mission.  The  new  building  by  its  very 
appearance  of  churchliness,  without  and  within,  testified  that 
the  Christian  religion  was  beginning  to  make  itself  felt  as  a 
definite  and  permanent  force  in  the  life  of  the  native  converts. 
It  was  built  of  bricks  with  a  shingle  roof,  both  being  made  by 
native  Christians  under  the  direction  of  Schmidt.  The  ground 
plan  is  cruciform,  the  length  of  the  building,  including  the 
tower  at  the  east  end,  being  70  feet,  the  width  20  feet.  Two 
schoolrooms  were  attached  at  the  ends  of  the  main  building 
on  the  north  side.  A  resident  English  lawyer  donated  the 
pulpit.  The  baptismal  font  was  purchased  with  money  sent 
from  Denmark  by  friends  of  Mrs.  Schmidt.  The  first  commu- 
nion vessels  used  in  the  church  had  an  interesting  history.  One 
of  the  cups  was  the  gift  of  Schmidt's  father  who  gave  it  to 
Groenning,  when  he  first  went  to  India.  A  second  cup  of  the 
same  size  and  pattern  had  been  presented  by  Groenning  to 
Poulsen.  A  third  cup  had  been  used  by  the  Wandsbecker 
Bote,  Claudius,  and  had  been  presented  to  Schmidt  by  friends 
in  Luebeck,  when  he  passed  through  that  place  on  his  way  to 
India.  The  paten  was  the  gift  of  friends  in  Denmark.  It 
was  the  original  intention  of  the  missionaries  and  of  the  Com- 
mittee in  America  to  build  the  church  as  a  memorial  to  Dr.  C. 
F.  Heyer,  using  the  sum  of  money  he  had  bequeathed  to  the 
Mission  for  its  erection;  but  Heyer's  estate  was  not  settled 
until  1879,  and  then  only  $290  of  the  $1000  bequeathed  was 
secured.  The  church  was  finished  in  the  fall  of  1878  and 
consecrated  on  Christmas  day,  that  year,  receiving  the  name  of 
St.  Paul's  Church. 

Early  in  1878  the  first  lace  was  sent  from  Rajahmundry  to 
Philadelphia.  It  was  made  by  the  older  girls  of  Mrs.  Schmidt's 

184 


ST.   PAUL'S  CHURCH,  RAJAHMUNDRY 


THE   MISSION   CHAPEL   AT   VELPUR 

Similar  chapels  have  been  built  in  a  number  of  other  villages,  but,  as  a  rule,  the 
native  congregations  meet  in  mud-walled,  thatch-roofed  prayer  houses. 


IMPORTANT   EVENTS    (1878-79)  185 

sewing  class.  "My  sewing  class  meets  every  day  from  12  to 
2  o'clock,"  wrote  Mrs.  Schmidt.  "Boys  as  well  as  girls  come. 
It  takes  time  and  patience  to  teach  them,  but  those  who  are 
diligent  soon  learn  to  do  good  work.  We  furnish  all  the 
material,  such  as  needles,  thimbles  and  thread.  The  older 
girls  crochet  and  do  tracing.  I  was  glad  to  be  able  to  buy  the 
lace  made  by  the  women  during  the  time  of  famine,  especially 
because  the  suggestion  of  earning  something  in  this  way  came 
from  them.  Now  I  have  more  lace  than  I  can  dispose  of  here, 
and  am  going  to  send  some  to  America,  where  it  may  find  a  sale.1 

Poulsen  undertook  a  short  tour  in  July,  1878,  in  the  "Dove 
of  Peace."  He  took  his  wife  and  children2  and  his  catechist, 
Joseph,  with  him.  At  Jegurupad  he  baptized  a  woman  on  her 
death-bed,  who  had  left  her  husband  when,  several  years 
before,  he  had  become  a  Christian.  At  the  same  time  he 
baptized  two  of  their  children.  At  Muramunda  he  baptized 
three  young  women,  daughters  of  heathen  parents,  one  of 
whom  was  a  widow,  and  another  the  wife  of  a  Christian 
absent  in  Rangoon. 

On  September  23,  1878,  a  daughter  was  born  to  Rev.  and 
Mrs.  Schmidt,  who  at  her  baptism  received  the  name  of 
Dagmar  Inger  Dorothea.  Two  days  after  her  baptism,  on 
October  8th,  Poulsen  with  his  family  left  for  Vellore  and 
Madras  on  sick  leave,  and  was  absent  from  Rajahmundry 
over  two  months. 

In  March,  1878,  a  communication  from  the  missionaries 
was  read  to  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee,  asking  for  per- 
mission to  ordain  the  catechists  Joseph  and  Paulus  to  the 
office  of  the  holy  ministry.  The  Committee  granted  the  re- 
quest at  its  meeting  in  May,  and  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania 
at  Easton,  Pa.,  June  18,  1878,  authorized  their  ordination.3 

1  The  June  number  of  the  "Missionsbote,"  1878,  contained  a  notice  offering 
this  lace  for  sale.    It  sold  readily  at  8  and  10  cents  a  yard. 

2  September  2,  1875,  a  son  had  been  born  to  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Poulsen,  who  at 
his  baptism  received  the  name  of  Aage  Iver. 

3  At  a  conference  with  the  catechists  on  December  ist,  Schmidt  officially 
informed  them  of  the  authorization  received  from  America  and  had  them  sign 
the  following  agreement: 

"i.  The  end  in  view  in  every  Mission  must  be  the  establishment  of  independ- 
ent native  churches  with  native  pastors. 

"2.  In  the  event  of  the  ordination  of  Joseph  and  Paulus,  the  General  Council 


1 86       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

After  a  serious  illness  of  three  weeks  Schmidt  was  again 
well  enough  on  Christmas,  1878,  to  take  part  in  the  services 
of  that  season,  which  included  not  only  the  usual  celebration 
of  the  festival  but  more  especially  the  consecration  of  the 
new  church  at  Rajahmundry  and  the  ordination  of  Joseph 
and  Paulus.  These  services  began  at  8  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
More  than  two  hundred  Christians  were  present,  and  many 
heathen  gathered  about  the  doors  and  the  windows  of  the 
church.  Poulsen  preached  in  Telugu  and  Schmidt  in  English. 
Then  came  the  formal  consecration  of  the  building  to  the  wor- 
ship of  the  only  True  God,  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost.  The 
solemn  ordination  of  the  catechists  closed  the  service  of  the 
morning,  which  lasted  three  hours.  During  the  service  three 
adults  and  two  infants  were  baptized.  Joseph  and  Paulus 
wore  white  gowns;  Schmidt  and  Poulsen  black  ones.  The 
candidates  knelt  at  the  altar  and  were  ordained  by  the  mis- 
sionaries by  the  laying  on  of  hands  and  by  prayer.  The 
administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  to  the  congregation  fol- 
lowed the  ordination,  the  newly  ordained  native  pastors 
assisting  in  the  distribution.  In  the  afternoon  the  usual 
Christmas  dinner  was  served  to  the  Christians  in  the  mission 
compound  at  the  expense  of  the  English  judge. 

At  a  conference  of  missionaries  and  native  pastors,  held 
the  day  after  Christmas,  it  was  resolved  to  ask  the  Com- 
mittee in  America  to  increase  the  salary  of  the  native  pastor 
to  Rs.  25  a  month  with  a  travelling  allowance  of  5  annas  for 
each  day  spent  on  tour  beyond  six  miles  from  the  pastor's 

promises  to  pay  in  future  their  salaries,  namely,  Rs.  20  per  month  and  travelling 
expenses. 

"3.  They  are  to  reside  in  a  central  village  and  be  the  pastors  of  a  number  of 
surrounding  villages,  where  they  are  to  try  to  develop  an  independent  ministry. 
A  district  is  to  be  assigned  them  for  special  evangelistic  work  among  the  heathen. 
They  are  to  accompany  the  missionaries  on  longer  mission  tours. 

"4.  The  foreign  missionaries  are  to  remain  superintendents  of  these  congre- 
gations; but  they  are  to  regard  the  native  pastors  as  fellow-ministers  who  with 
them  are  members  of  the  General  Council  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church 
in  North  America. 

"5.  With  regard  to  money  received  from  foreign  sources  the  foreign  mis- 
sionaries remain  the  only  agents,  but  with  regard  to  money  collected  in  their 
own  congregations,  the  native  pastors  have  equal  vote  with  the  foreign  mis- 
sionaries. 

"6.  As  soon  as  a  third  missionary  arrives,  church  government  is  to  be  vested 
in  a  Conference  or  Synod." 


IMPORTANT   EVENTS    (1878-79)  187 

residence.  It  was,  moreover,  resolved  to  exact  a  fee  of 
Rs.  2  annually,  payable  in  advance,  for  each  seat  in  the  church 
at  Rajahmundry,  those  paying  no  fees  to  have  the  privilege 
of  using  the  mat.  At  an  adjourned  meeting,  on  December 
2Qth,  a  system  of  fees  for  Christians  outside  of  Rajahmundry 
was  devised  for  the  building,  repair  and  maintenance  of 
churches  and  schools;  but  the  Committee  hi  America  disap- 
proved of  the  system  and  advised  the  encouragement  of 
voluntary  but  systematic  contributions.1 

A  forward  step  of  far-reaching  importance  was  taken  by  the 
American  Committee  in  November,  1877,  when  it  resolved 
to  publish  a  German  organ  "in  which  the  wants  and  claims 
of  our  Telugu  Mission  could  find  adequate  expression,  and 
through  which  our  congregations  could  be  interested  in  its 
behalf."  The  Rev.  F.  Wischan  was  elected  editor-in-chief, 
the  Revs.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  and  H.  Grahn  associate  editors. 
The  first  number  of  "Der  Missionsbote,"  as  the  new  paper 
was  called,  appeared  in  the  first  week  in  January,  1878,  and 
thereafter  monthly.  The  number  of  subscriptions  rose  during 
the  year  to  8000.  Every  year  the  accounts  showed  a  profit, 
which  was  turned  into  the  General  Fund. 

But  the  most  important  step  of  the  year  1878  was  the 
sending  out  of  the  fifth  foreign  missionary  of  the  General 
Council,  the  Rev.  A.  B.  Carlson,  a  Swede,  and  the  first  man 
wholly  trained  in  America  to  become  a  General  Council 
foreign  missionary. 

Augustus  B.  Carlson  was  born  in  Doedeihult,  Sweden, 
August  16,  1846.  He  emigrated  to  the  United  States  when  he 
was  seventeen  years  of  age,  and  after  attending  Knox  College, 
Galesburg,  111.,  studied  theology  at  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Theological  Seminary  in  Philadelphia,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1878.  At  the  close  of  his  senior  year  he  received 
and  accepted  the  call  to  go  to  India.  He  was  ordained  by  the 
Swedish  Augustana  Synod,  June  16,  1878,  at  Princeton,  111. 

1  The  year  ended  in  India  with  a  balance  of  $379  in  the  mission  treasury, 
$4000  having  been  received  from  America  and  $126  from  the  friends  of  the 
Mission  living  at  Rajahmundry.  Schmidt's  expenditures  for  district  and 
school  work  had  amounted  to  $973;  Poulsen's,  to  $520;  and  the  new  church 
building  had  required  $520  additional,  or  $1120  in  all. 


1 88       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Two  weeks  after  his  ordination,  on  May  3ist,  in  Philadelphia, 
he  married  Miss  Hilda  Linsky.  He  was  solemnly  commis- 
sioned for  service  in  our  foreign  mission  on  the  morning  of 
June  24th,  at  a  service  held  in  Zion's  and  St.  Michael's  Church, 
Philadelphia.  The  Rev.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  chairman  of  the 
Foreign  Missions  Committee,  delivered  the  charge  to  the 
missionary,  addressing  him  in  the  following  words:  "I  ask 
you,  dear  brother,  do  you  believe  and  confess  the  teachings  of 
our  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  and  promise  to  teach  in 
conformity  with  her  Confessions  as  a  missionary  among  the 
heathen,  and  to  adorn  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  by  a  holy 
walk  and  conversation?  Are  you  willing  and  ready  to  devote 
your  life  to  the  holy  calling  and  work  of  a  missionary  with  all 
your  mind  and  strength,  though  you  may  be  called  upon  to 
lay  down  your  life  for  the  Name  of  Jesus?" 

Thereupon  the  missionary  answered  so  that  all  in  the  church 
heard  him:  "Yes,  the  Lord  helping  me  through  the  power  of 
His  Holy  Spirit."  Kneeling,  he  was  commissioned  with  the 
laying  on  of  hands,  Dr.  Spaeth  repeating  John  15:16  in 
German;  Dr.  Schmucker,  Acts  20: 24 in  English;  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Lindberg,  John  15:4  and  Psalm  121 : 8  in  Swedish.  After  the 
missionary  had  risen,  Dr.  Spaeth  addressed  the  congregation, 
saying,  "And  now,  dear  congregation,  forget  not  this  solemn 
hour  and  all  this  of  which  we  have  been  witnesses.  He  whom 
we  have  here  commissioned  for  service  in  our  mission  field  is 
your  messenger.  Remember  him  and  our  Mission  in  your 
prayers.  Pray  for  him  in  earnest,  continual  supplications. 
His  work  is  your  work;  his  conflict,  your  conflict;  his  victory, 
your  victory." 

The  offering  at  this  service  was  used  for  the  purchase  of  an 
organ  for  the  Rajahmundry  church,  costing  $155,  which  had 
been  displayed  at  the  Centennial  Exhibition  in  Philadelphia. 
The  Rev.  A.  T.  Geissenhainer  presented  the  missionary  with 
a  silver  communion  set  for  use  in  the  Mission. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carlson  sailed  from  New  York  June  26,  1878 
visited  his  parents  in  Sweden,  took  ship  at  Trieste,  passed 
through  the  Suez  Canal,  reached  Madras  January  14,  1879, 
and  Coconada  eight  days  later.    At  Coconada  Schmidt  met 


IMPORTANT    EVENTS    (1878-79)  189 

them  with  the  "Dove  of  Peace,"  and  brought  them  to  Rajah- 
mundry.  Happy  beyond  expression  were  the  missionaries  on 
the  field  because,  after  waiting  eight  years,  hoping  almost 
against  hope,  they  could  grasp  the  hand  of  another  co- 
laborer. 

On  February  3,  1879,  a  Mission  Conference  was  formally 
organized,  Schmidt  being  elected  President,  and  Poulsen 
Secretary  and  Treasurer.  It  was  resolved  that  Carlson  should 
conduct  regular  English  services  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Rajah- 
mundry,  for  the  benefit  of  the  English-speaking  families. 
Pastor  Joseph  was  stationed  at  Jegurupad  and  Pastor  Paulus 
at  Velpur.  Each  baptized  twenty-five  persons  by  the  first  of 
May.  Joseph  visited  Muramunda,  Peravaram  and  Lolla  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Godavery  River;  Paulus  was  given  Malla- 
pudi,  Jagganathpuram,  Mahadevipatnam  and  Argatipalem 
on  the  west  side.  The  wisdom  of  their  ordination  and  appoint- 
ment to  special  parishes  soon  became  evident.  Unlike  the 
foreign  missionaries,  they  had  no  building  operations  to  super- 
intend, no  boats  to  build,  no  salaries  to  distribute,  no  work  of 
any  secular  kind  whatever  to  do.  Accustomed  to  the  climate, 
thoroughly  familiar  with  the  habits  of  thought  and  modes  of 
life  in  their  own  country,  having  a  good  command  of  the  con- 
versational vernacular,  these  sons  of  the  soil,  Telugus  of  the 
Telugus,  whom  all  foreign  missionaries  who  had  known  them — 
Heyer,  Groenning,  Schmidt  and  Poulsen — had  recommended 
for  ordination,  proved  to  be  a  power  for  good  in  the  Mission 
that  can  scarcely  be  overestimated. 

Another  native  Christian,  who  from  the  day  of  his  baptism 
was  of  great  service  to  the  missionaries,  was  Ratnam.  After 
having  spent  a  year  as  Schmidt's  Telugu  teacher,  he  was  given 
charge  of  the  school  at  Rajahmundry,  when  Paulus  and  Joseph 
left  for  their  respective  stations  in  January,  1879.  In  April 
he  reported  an  attendance  of  twenty- three  pupils,  boys  and 
girls,  in  two  classes.  In  the  first  class  the  following  branches 
were  taught  in  Telugu :  Bible  History,  New  Testament  Read- 
ings, Luther's  Small  Catechism,  Telugu  Language  (Fourth 
Book),  Telugu  History,  Grammar,  Geography,  Arithmetic 
and  Writing.  The  second  class  had  two  divisions.  In  Divi- 


THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

sion  A,  the  Telugu  Language  (Second  Book),  Catechism,  Old 
Testament  History,  Arithmetic  and  Writing  were  taught; 
in  Division  B,  Telugu  (First  Book)  and  Arithmetic  to  multi- 
plication. The  boarding  boys,  of  whom  there  were  eleven, 
attended  in  part  the  Rajahmundry  mission  school  and  in  part 
the  Government  schools  of  the  town,  all  of  them  meeting 
Missionary  Poulsen  for  one  hour  of  religious  instruction  each 
day.  This  arrangement  was  very  unsatisfactory.  The  mis- 
sionaries desired  to  have  a  mission  school  of  a  higher  grade, 
and  presented  its  claims  to  the  Committee  in  America, 
which,  as  a  consequence,  reported  to  the  General  Council  at 
Zanesville,  O.,  in  1879,  as  follows:  "We  are  deeply  impressed 
with  the  importance  of  elevating  the  grade  of  our  provision  for 
instruction.  The  schools,  at  present,  are  entirely  Telugu,  and 
furnish  no  means  for  completing  the  training  of  the  teachers 
and  catechists.  This  must  be  done  in  the  Government  schools, 
from  which  all  Christian  instruction  is  excluded.  We  cannot 
hope  to  obtain  qualified  teachers  from  other  Missions,  and  we 
have  no  training-school  of  our  own.  Our  present  force  is  not 
adequate.  The  first  necessity,  therefore,  is  more  laborers. 
If  good  teachers  could  be  sent  out,  the  want  might  be  partially 
supplied.  The  Conference  has  proposed  the  re-occupation  of 
Samulkot  as  a  place  well  adapted  for  an  advanced  school,  there 
being  no  government  school  in  that  place;  but  the  absence  of 
a  Christian  congregation  there  makes  us  doubt  whether  the 
step  is  advisable  until  our  number  of  laborers  is  larger." 
It  was  hoped  that  Carlson,  because  of  his  familiarity  with 
the  English  language,  might  fit  himself  in  time  to  become  the 
manager  of  a  training-school  for  native  workers,  but  this  hope 
was  blasted  by  Carlson's  early  death. 

Schmidt,  greatly  needing  a  protracted  vacation,  left  Rajah- 
mundry, with  his  wife  and  infant  daughter,  March  19,  1879, 
for  the  Nilgiri  Hills.  From  Madras  they  went  to  Coimbatore, 
where  for  three  days  they  were  the  guests  of  the  Leipsic  mis- 
sionary, Sandegren.  Then  by  bullock  cart  they  travelled  to 
Coonoor  and  farther  up  to  Ootacamund,  which  lies  at  an  ele- 
vation of  8000  feet  above  sea-level,  and  where  in  April  and 
May,  the  hottest  months  on  the  plains,  the  average  tempera- 


IMPORTANT   EVENTS    (1878-79)  191 

ture  is  about  60°  Fahrenheit.  Here  they  spent  two  months, 
thoroughly  enjoying  the  cool  mountain  air,  which  renewed 
their  health  and  strength,  and  the  pleasant  fellowship  of  other 
missionaries  and  their  families,  as  well  as  of  English  officials; 
for  Ootacamund  had  become  one  of  the  favorite  vacation 
resorts  in  South  India.  June  and  July  were  spent  in  Banga- 
lore, where  Schmidt  met  and  labored  with  a  Commission  of 
eleven  other  missionaries  in  the  revision  of  the  Telugu  Bible.1 
After  leaving  Bangalore,  July  3ist,  the  Schmidts  went  to 
the  Basel  Mission  station  at  Calicut  on  the  west  coast,  because 

1  The  first  printed  translation  of  the  New  Testament  into  Telugu  was  done 
by  Brahmins  under  the  supervision  of  William  Carey  at  Serampur  in  1818, 
but  was  entirely  useless.  The  first  translation  which  could  be  used  was  made 
by  Missionary  Gordon  and  other  missionaries  of  the  London  Missionary  Society 
at  Vizagapatam,  who  translated  the  Old  Testament  in  1809-23.  This  trans- 
lation was  published  by  the  Madras  Auxiliary  Bible  Society.  A  revision  of 
this  translation  made  by  the  Rev.  J.  Hay  formed  the  basis  of  the  work  of  the 
commission.  Six  hours  a  day  were  given  to  the  work.  At  8  o'clock  in  the 
morning  the  commissioners  met  around  a  long  table,  the  chairman,  Dr.  Cham- 
berlain of  the  American  Dutch  Reformed  Church  Mission,  sitting  at  one 
end  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hay  at  the  other.  After  a  Scripture  lesson  and  prayer, 
the  day's  work  began  with  a  review  of  the  previous  day's  revision.  Then  new 
work  was  taken  up,  Rev.  Mr.  Hay  reading  his  manuscript  sentence  by  sentence. 
The  Greek  versions  of  Tischendorf ,  Tragelles  and  Lachmann  were  used  as  well 
as  the  Hebrew  original.  Dr.  Chamberlain  compared  the  translation  suggested 
with  the  originals  in  every  case.  Dr.  Jewett  of  the  American  Baptist  Mission, 
had  the  Sanscrit  and  De  Wette's  German  translation  before  him.  Dr.  Alex- 
ander of  the  C.  M.  S.,  Ellore,  had  the  English  versions;  Rev.  Mr.  Clay  of  the 
Propagation  Society,  the  Tamil;  Rev.  Mr.  Lewis  of  the  London  Society,  the 
Canarese  and  Urdu;  Rev.  H.  C.  Schmidt  of  the  American  Lutheran  Mission, 
Rajahmundry,  the  Danish  and  Luther's  German.  Several  native  pastors 
rendered  valuable  assistance  by  suggesting  the  suitable  Telugu  diction. 

Mr.  Schmidt  gives  the  final  revision  of  Matthew  7  :  21  as  a  sample  of  Telugu 
construction,  as  follows:  "Lord,  Lord,  to  me  saying  everyone  not,  but  in  heaven 
being  my  Father's  will  who  is  doing,  shall  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  come." 
Such  words  as  Heaven,  Gehenna,  Hades,  sacrifice,  law,  judgment  gave  the 
commission  much  difficulty,  until  finally  words  used  in  Hindu  mythology  were 
employed  in  the  hope  that  their  Christian  use  would  eventually  sanctify  them. 
Where  this  method  seemed  dangerous  or  questionable,  Sanscrit  terms  were 
employed. 

When  the  close  of  Matthew's  Gospel  was  reached  the  Baptists  on  the  Com- 
mission insisted  that  the  participles  baptizing  and  teaching  should  be  rendered  in 
the  imperative,  but  the  necessity  of  placing  the  main  verb  "make  disciples," 
according  to  Telugu  syntax,  at  the  end  of  the  whole  sentence,  perplexed  them 
considerably,  for  it  clearly  upset  their  Baptist  theory.  For  the  word  "bap- 
tize," however,  they  did  not  insist  on  the  use  of  the  Telugu  word  for  immerse, 
for  in  a  figurative  sense  that  also  means  to  deceive.  The  use  of  the  Greek  term 
"baptizo"  was  rejected  and  finally  the  word  "snanamu,"  used  by  Telugus  for 
their  ceremonial  washings,  was  adopted. 

The  Commission  resolved  to  meet  for  two  months  every  year,  each  member 
working  independently  ad  interim,  until  the  revision  had  been  completed. 


THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Schmidt  wanted  to  see  their  industrial  work.  They  were  back 
in  Rajahmundry  by  the  end  of  August. 

While  Schmidt  was  away,  Poulsen,  who  supervised  all  the 
mission  work,  had  an  attack  of  typhus  fever  from  which 
he  could  not  fully  recover,  and  his  return  to  Europe  was  urged 
by  his  family  physician.  The  Foreign  Missions  Committee 
granted  him  a  furlough,  to  begin  in  the  spring  of  1880. 

In  August,  1879,  the  following  table  of  statistics  was  sent  to 
America: 

Chris-  Commun-      Pupils. 
tians.1    icants.     Boys.     Girls. 

Rajahmundry  and  Dowlaishwarara,  V.  Ratnam 86  44  27        18 

Pastor  Paulus'  Parish : 

Velpur,  H.  Alfred 34  20  3          6 

Mallipudi,  E.  John '. 10  4  5          i 

Batlamungutur,  K.  Prakasam ..  17          5 

Jagganathpuram,  C.  Matthew 20  n  3          3 

Mahadevipatnam,  N.  Stephen 14  6  6 

Agartipalem 18  6 

Pastor  Joseph's  Parish: 

Jegurupad,  Pastor  Joseph 74  36  6          6 

Muramunda,  M.  William 44  28  7 

Peravaram,  B.  John 24  12  . .           3 

Lolla ,.   10  4 

Totals 334      171         74        42 

One  of  the  encouraging  features  of  the  closing  years  of  the 
first  decade  of  the  history  of  the  India  Mission  was  the  in- 
crease of  financial  support  from  America.  As  much  as  $5525 
was  received  in  India  from  America  in  1879,  and  the  total 
income  of  the  mission  treasury,  including  a  balance  of  the 
previous  year  and  $155  from  local  contributors,  amounted  to 
$7103.90.  The  total  expenditures  amounted  to  $4435.68, 
including  the  salaries  of  the  three  missionaries,  each  of  whom 
received  $1000,  leaving  a  balance,  at  the  close  of  1879,  of 
$2668.22. 

The  accounts  in  India  did  not,  however,  adequately  express 
the  actual  increase  of  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Church  at  home, 
for  there  were  many  items  of  expenditure  connected  with  the 
affairs  at  home  and  the  sending  out  of  Carlson  which  were  not 

1  The  total  number  of  baptisms  in  the  Mission,  to  the  end  of  the  year  1879, 
that  is,  for  the  first  ten  years  of  the  work  of  the  missionaries  of  the  General 
Council,  was  400. 


IMPORTANT   EVENTS    (1878-79)  193 

entered  on  the  books  in  India.  The  following  table  of  income 
and  expenditure  in  America  will,  therefore,  serve  to  give  a 
better  idea  of  this  increase.  The  figures  are  taken  from  the 
reports  of  the  treasurer  of  the  General  Council: 

1870.  1871.  1872. 

Income $2480.49  $3065.00  $4555-79 

Expenditures 2065.74  2861.32  2276.29 

Balance 414-75  203.68  2279.50 

1873.  1874.  1875. 

Income $6148.74  $5368.00  $3385-13 

Expenditures 3879.24  4008.96  2071.66 

Balance 2269.50  i359-°4  3J3-47 

1876.  1877.  1878,  1879. 

Income $2974.46  $5877.41  $13,003.67 

Expenditures 2806.56  4347.68  12,821.72 

Balance 167.90  1529.73  181.95 

At  the  convention  of  the  General  Council  at  Zanesville,  O., 
in  1879,  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  suggested  that  its 
membership  be  enlarged  so  as  to  permit  some  representation 
from  the  Swedish  Augustana  Synod,  which  was  beginning  to 
contribute  several  hundred  dollars  annually.  As  a  conse- 
quence the  following  members  were  added:  Rev.  C.  J.  Petri 
and  Rev.  Samuel  Laird,  D.  D.  The  committee  was  also 
empowered  to  fill  all  vacancies  and  to  add  others  to  its  mem- 
bership, if  found  necessary.  Philadelphia  was  designated 
as  the  geographical  center  with  reference  to  which  the  Com- 
mittee should  in  the  future  be  constituted. 

The  "Missionsbote"  had  become  such  a  successful  venture, 
having  increased  its  subscribers  to  13,000,  that  the  General 
Council  authorized  and  instructed  its  Committee  on  Foreign 
Missions  to  publish  also  an  English  organ  for  the  development 
of  interest  among  the  churches  which  used  that  language. 
The  Committee  at  once,  in  November,  1879,  resolved  to 
publish  a  four-page  paper,  similar  to  "The  Church  Messenger" 
in  style  and  form,  and  elected  the  Rev.  William  Ashmead 
Schaeffer  editor-in-chief,  and  the  Rev.  B.  M.  Schmucker, 
D.  D.,  associate  editor.  The  first  number  of  this  paper,  "The 
Foreign  Missionary,"  appeared  in  January,  1880,  and  there- 
after regularly  every  month. 

13 


194       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

As  the  work  in  India  spread  and  the  interest  in  America 
grew,  the  need  of  more  missionaries  was  more  urgently  pre- 
sented. The  Committee  pleaded  at  Zanesville  for  men  from 
America.  It  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the  missionaries  who 
had  been  laboring  at  Rajahmundry,  had  all  been  born  in 
Europe,  and  that  the  General  Council  had  not  yet  furnished 
one  missionary  who  had  been  both  born  and  educated  in  the 
United  States.  "This,"  said  the  Committee,  "is  surely  a  cause 
for  shame  and  repentance."  Their  appeal  moved  the  General 
Council  to  pass  the  following  resolution:  "Resolved,  That 
inasmuch  as  our  Telugu  Mission  greatly  needs  more  laborers, 
and  believing  that  it  is  the  imperative  duty  of  the  General 
Council  to  provide  for  this  need,  we,  as  pastors  and  delegates, 
earnestly  praying  to  the  Lord  to  send  more  laborers  into  the 
field,  will  work  diligently  in  our  synods,  congregations,  Sunday 
schools  and  families  to  awaken  a  deeper  interest  in  the  great 
work  of  foreign  missions." 

God  heard  the  prayers  of  His  Church  and  soon  raised  up  a 
number  of  men  for  the  Mission  in  India. 


THE  HINDU  TRIAD  OF  GODS 
Brahma,   The   Creator;   Vishnu,   The   Preserver;    Siva,   The    Destroyer. 


THE    MONKEY    GOD   HANUMAN 

He  has  the  body  and  legs  of  a  human  being  with  five  arms  on  each  side  and  the 
head  and  tail  of  a  monkey. 


KEY 

1.  Hindu  Temple. 

2.  School  Inspector1! Office. 

3.  Hindu  Temple. 

4.  An  Inn. 
It.  Toll-date. 

6.  torts'  Central  School. 

7.  l>  -Tirt  .lull. 

8.  TolWJiite. 
9  10.  Tank*. 

11.  JU'lge'l  Court. 

I-1.  PutiH'anvi  school. 

r;.  MutiMfsCourt. 

II.  R'vcnlale  (.'iris'  Nchool. 

15.  Chkf  Kng'r's  Bungalow. 

16.  Angllcun  Church. 

17.  Roinnn  Catholic  Church, 
ix.  Bungalow. 

19.  fa.  Paul's  Church. 

20.  Vmlarcri  JC.  K.  Station. 
•21.  .lu.ljte's  Bungalow. 

•-'.'.  An  Inn. 

23.  Former  Post  Office. 

24.  A  ,v  B.  Hindu  Temple*. 

25.  Municipal  Boys'  School. 
26    Government  Girls' School. 
27.  Municipal  Hospital. 

24.  A.  Police  Sta.    B.  Mosque. 

29.  An  Inn. 

30.  Hindu  Temple. 

31.  II.  R.  Freight  Station. 

32.  Municipal  Primary  Boys'  School. 
33    Government  College. 

34-35.  Timks. 

36    An  Inn. 

31.  College  Cnmpui. 

38.  Edward  Primary  Boys'  School. 

3J.  Agency  Collector's  Office. 

40.  Magistrate's  Court. 

41.  Taluk  Co-irt. 

4>.  Telegrnph  Office. 
43.  Art's  College. 
41.  Toll-Gate. 

45.  Rajanmundry  R.  R.  Sta. 

46.  Halcott's  Garden. 

17.  Virlt'  School,  Jamipetta. 
48.      "  "  Lackahmivarampetta 

19.      "  "  Manoalavarampetta. 

63.  Munshlg<tru  Sabbarayyudu  sH'ae 

51.  D'tperuary.  A.  E  L.  Million. 

52.  (ilrls-  School,  Bethlrhrm. 

53.  Medical  Jlomr.  Xftv  lloip'l  Kite 
51.  Sunday  Nchool  (Mia  tiwemon). 
55.  dirla'  School,  Aryapuram. 

56.  Museum  t;nrden. 
:,7.  New  PosKlftice. 
53.  Zenana  Home. 
69.  Hiverdale  Hunoolow. 

60.  English  Club  House. 

61.  Cemetery .  A.  E.  L.  Mission. 

62.  A"«u>  Bnyt'  Central  School. 

63.  Xtw  Boys'  Central  tichool.  Dormitory. 

64.  A'ew  Boys'  Central  tichool,  Mgr's  Bu  ngalow 

65.  Wnman'tand  Children's  Temp.  Hospital. 

66.  .Missionary', Btttiijalow,Church  Compoun 

67.  Btjif  ffiuh  Scl',,ol. 

Missionaries'  Bin'talnn'.  (^frs.  Taylor's). 
69-70.  Sunday  &choi,t»,  (Miss  Swenson). 


RAJAHMUNDRY, 
INDIA. 


MAP  OF  RAJAHMUNDRY   IX   1910 


CHAPTER  VII 

PROGRESS  IN  EVERY  DIRECTION    (1880-82) 

RAJAHMUNDRY  in  1880,  as  described  by  Schmidt,  was  _a 
town  of  about  20,200  inhabitants,  of  whom  18,000  were 
Hindus,  2000  Moslems  and  200  Christians.  "The  town  is 
located  about  seventeen  degrees  north  latitude  and  81  de- 
grees east  longitude,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Godavery  River, 
40  miles  from  the  sea  and  365  miles  north  of  Madras.  It 
has  one  long,  main  avenue,  from  which  most  of  the  streets, 
which  are  narrow,  run  down  to  the  river.  The  town  is  an  old 
one  and  is  irregularly  laid  out,  excepting  in  its  southern  suburb, 
Innespett,  which,  begun  a  few  decades  ago,  has  broad  streets 
crossing  at  right  angles.  Many  of  the  wealthier  natives  live 
in  this  suburb,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  which  are  the 
Government  College  and  the  telegraph  office.1 

"As  one  approaches  the  town,  little  can  be  seen  except  the 
trees  which  are  large  and  afford  abundant  shade.  The  houses 
are  nearly  all  one-story  buildings  made  of  mud  walls,  covered 
with  tiles  or  a  palm-leaf  thatch.  In  the  western 2  part  of  the 
town  is  the  Municipal  Hospital,  where  patients  are  admitted 
free.  Near  the  hospital  is  an  old  Mohammedan  cemetery, 
near  which  our  mission  buildings  are  located,  namely,  St. 
Paul's  Church  (the  old  mission  house),  and,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street,  Carlson's  bungalow.  Farther  east  are  the 
cemetery  of  the  Mission  and  of  the  Anglican  Church.  Nearby 
is  the  residence  of  that  old  friend  of  our  Mission,  Captain 
Taylor.  The  northern  part  of  the  town  is  occupied  chiefly  by 
Europeans.  Here  the  Anglican  Church  and  the  Museum  are 
located.  North  of  the  Judge's  bungalow,  along  the  river 
bank,  is  the  public  Promenade,  where  in  the  evening,  many 

1  The  telegraph  office,  connected  with  the  post-office,  is  now  in  the  heart 
of  the  city. 

2  At  the  present  time  the  Municipal  Hospital  lies  rather  in  the  central 
part  of  Rajahmundry. 

195 


196       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

people  resort  after  the  heat  of  the  day.  About  one  hundred 
paces  away  lies  the  Museum  Garden.  The  Promenade  ends 
on  the  north  with  a  part  of  the  old  walls  of  a  fort;  right  beyond 
this  is  the  Court  House  which,  being  in  a  state  of  dilapida- 
tion, is  to  be  replaced  by  a  new  building.  Close  by  lies  the 
garden  which  is  the  site  of  the  new  missionary's  bungalow 
(Riverdale).  On  the  northern  outskirts  is  the  washermen's 
quarter.  Between  the  buildings  near  the  river  bank  and 
our  mission  buildings  lie  the  residences  of  the  Collector, 
College  professors,  English  lawyers  and  Hindus,  the  Anglican 
and  Roman  Catholic  churches,  the  district  jail  and  the  police 
headquarters. 

"Rajahmundry  is  a  center  of  considerable  trade.  The  chief 
articles  of  commerce  are  rice,  tobacco,  gall-nuts  and  teak 
wood.  Merchandise  and  passengers  are  daily  transported 
to  Coconada,  Narsapur,  Koringa,  Amalapur  and  Ellore,  as 
well  as  up  the  stream  to  Dummugudem.  Hundreds  are  em- 
ployed at  ship-building.  The  town  boasts  of  a  small  printing- 
press  and  several  newspapers  whose  subscription  lists,  how- 
ever, are  small,  for  the  Hindu  is  too  conservative  to  adopt 
novelties." 

Poulsen,  after  nine  years  of  uninterrupted  service  at  Rajah- 
mundry, left  on  a  well-earned  furlough  with  his  wife  and  four 
children,  sailing  from  Madras  April  16,  1880,  and  reaching 
Copenhagen  early  in  June.  Leaving  his  family  in  Denmark, 
he  came  to  the  United  States  on  the  invitation  of  the  Foreign 
Missions  Committee.  He  secured  a  free  passage  across  the 
Atlantic  in  a  Danish  ship  by  serving  as  chaplain  during  the 
voyage.  Reaching  Philadelphia  on  August  25th,  he  spent 
four  months  in  the  United  States,  met  the  Committee  at  its 
September  meeting,  attended  the  convention  of  the  General 
Council  at  Greensburg,  Pa.,  and  several  of  the  district  Con- 
ferences of  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania,  and  preached  to  con- 
gregations in  Pennsylvania  and  New  York.  He  returned  to 
Copenhagen  in  December,  again  securing  a  free  passage  on  a 
Danish  ship. 

Carlson  studied  Telugu  with  the  assistance  of  James  and 
other  native  Christians.  He  began  English  services  in  St. 


PROGRESS   IN   EVERY   DIRECTION    (1880-82)  197 

Paul's  Church,  Rajahmundry,  on  the  first  Sunday  of  the  year 
1880,  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  immediately  after  the  close 
of  the  session  of  the  Sunday  school  which  Mrs.  Carlson  or- 
ganized and  superintended,  assisted  by  James  and  William. 
He  also  undertook  to  teach  Bible-classes  in  Rajahmundry 
and  Dowlaishwaram,  which  at  first  were  well  attended  but 
afterward  were  discontinued.  It  was  understood  that  he  was 
to  take  charge  of  the  educational  work,  and  on  March  i8th 
he  started  for  Masulipatam,  where  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  conducted  two  boarding  schools,  one  for  boys  and  one 
for  girls,  and  where  Noble  High  School,  afterward  raised  to 
the  grade  of  a  college,  was  located,  in  order  to  study  the  meth- 
ods used  in  these  schools  and  work  out  a  plan  for  the  organiza- 
tion and  management  of  a  training-school  for  native  workers 
at  Rajahmundry.  After  the  hot  season,  which  he  spent  with 
his  wife  at  Narsapur,  he  also  visited  Vizagapatam  to  see  the 
schools  of  the  London  Missionary  Society. 

Meanwhile  Schmidt  supervised  the  work  of  the  entire  Mis- 
sion. He  left  the  care  of  the  district  work,  however,  almost 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  native  pastors.  When  in  Rajah- 
mundry he  conducted  a  devotional  exercise  every  morning 
for  the  teachers  and  pupils  of  the  school  and  such  Christians 
as  desired  to  attend,  devoted  an  hour  each  day  to  the  religious 
instruction  of  the  boarding  boys,  and  conducted  the  Sunday 
Telugu  services  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  which  were  held  at 
7  A.  M.  during  the  hot  season  and  at  8  A.  M.  during  the  cool 
season.  At  these  Telugu  services  the  vernacular  translation  of 
the  order  of  service  in  the  Church  of  England's  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer  was  used,  with  omissions  and  modifications.  At 
the  English  services  in  the  afternoon  and  on  Wednesday 
evenings  the  Church  Book  of  the  General  Council  and  its 
Sunday  School  Book  were  used. 

Schmidt  was  busily  occupied  during  the  year  1880  in  the 
erection  of  a  new  bungalow.  He  had  bought  a  garden  on  the 
bank  of  the  river  containing  two  acres  for  Rs.  400.  In  it  he 
found  a  part  of  the  ruined  wall  of  the  old  fortress,  containing 
100  cubic  yards  of  hewn  stone,  which  he  dug  up  and  used 
for  the  foundation  of  his  bungalow.  The  erection  of  this 


igS       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

bungalow  at  the  expense  of  the  Mission  was  authorized  by  the 
Foreign  Missions  Committee  on  the  condition  that  as  much 
of  the  ground  as  needed  should  be  secured  as  mission  property.1 

After  having  passed  the  matriculation  examination  at  the 
Government  College,  James,  in  1880,  assisted  Ratnam  in 
the  school  work  at  Rajahmundry.  Lizzie,  J.  William's  sister, 
taught  the  infant  class.  In  August,  1880,  three  girls  at- 
tending the  school  were  placed  in  homes  of  native  Christians  as 
boarders;  two,  Annamma  and  Maria,  being  supported  by  the 
Ladies'  Sewing  Society  of  St.  Mark's  Church,  Philadelphia, 
and  the  third,  Susan,  by  the  Sunday  school  class  of  the  same 
church,  taught  by  Miss  Susan  E.  Monroe.  Mrs.  Carlson  suc- 
ceeded Mrs.  Schmidt  as  the  teacher  of  the  sewing  class  which 
met  daily  on  the  verandah  of  the  Carlson  bungalow.  After 
his  return  from  Vizagapatam,  Carlson  took  charge  of  the 
mission  school,  which  was  conducted  in  the  schoolrooms  of 
St.  Paul's  Church. 

The  sixth  foreign  missionary  of  the  General  Council,  the 
first  who  had  been  born  and  educated  in  the  United  States, 
reached  India  in  1880. 

Horace  G.  B.  Artman  was  born  at  Zionsville,  Upper  Milford 
township,  Lehigh  County,  Pa.,  September  23,  1857.  His 
parents  moved  to  Philadelphia  when  he  was  a  boy,  and  became 
members  of  St.  Mark's  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  on 
Spring  Garden  Street,  in  which  he  grew  up  and  was  confirmed 
by  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Kunkleman,  D.  D.  After  having  been 
graduated  from  the  High  School  hi  Philadelphia,  he  entered 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Philadelphia  in  1876.  At  the  close 
of  his  senior  year  he  received  and  accepted  the  call  of  the 

1  In  the  minutes  of  the  Committee,  January  26,  1880,  we  find  the  following 
resolution:  "Resolved,  That  Missionary  Schmidt  shall  build  a  house  as  the 
property  of  the  Mission.  It  shall,  if  at  all  possible,  be  erected  on  mission  prop- 
erty. Moreover,  it  should  not  be  expensively  built,  but  similar  to  other 
missionaries'  houses."  In  the  minutes  of  the  Committee,  May  31,  1880,  we 
find  the  following:  "Resolved,  That  Brother  Schmidt  be  authorized  to  build 
a  house  in  Schmidt's  garden,  that  this  house  be  built  at  our  expense  and  be  our 
property,  that  the  ground  on  which  it  is  built  and  the  surrounding  lot  be  pur- 
chased by  us,  and  that  only  after  this  is  the  case  shall  the  building  be  begun. 
As  far  as  the  Committee  can  determine  at  present,  Schmidt  is  to  occupy  this 
house;  yet  we  cannot  bind  ourselves  in  this  matter,  because  our  plans  concerning 
the  Mission  are  liable  to  change." 


PROGRESS    IN    EVERY    DIRECTION    (1880-82)  199 

Foreign  Missions  Committee.  He  was  ordained  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  held  at  Lancaster  on  May  26, 
1880.  He  married  Miss  Lizzie  M.  Vaux,  also  a  member  of  St. 
Mark's  Church,  Philadelphia,  on  the  evening  of  June  8,  1880. 
He  was  solemnly  commissioned  in  that  church  on  June  i3th, 
the  Rev.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  chairman  of  the  Foreign  Missions 
Committee,  delivering  the  commission.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Artman 
kneeled  at  the  altar  and  the  hands  of  the  officers  of  the  Com- 
mittee and  of  Dr.  Laird  were  laid  upon  him,  each  reciting  an 
appropriate  passage  of  Holy  Scripture.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Art- 
man sailed  from  New  York  on  July  yth,  spent  a  few  months 
in  Europe  at  their  own  expense,  and  reached  Madras  on  Oc- 
tober 8th.  Carlson,  in  the  "Dove  of  Peace,"  met  them  at 
Coconada  on  October  zyth.  At  Rajahmundry  Mrs.  Carlson 
met  them  at  the  landing  place  accompanied  by  the  teachers 
and  pupils  of  the  mission  school,  who  welcomed  them  with 
hymns  of  praise  and  gladness  and  escorted  them  to  their 
bungalow. 

"It  was  with  great  joy  and  deepest  feelings  of  gratitude," 
wrote  Artman,  "that  we  wended  our  way  to  St.  Paul's  Church 
on  our  first  Sabbath  morning  in  Rajahmundry.  Our  St. 
Paul's  Church  has  been  very  wisely,  substantially,  and  even 
beautifully  built.  It  has  a  large,  airy  audience-room,  with 
a  handsome  pulpit,  reading-desk,  altar  and  chancel-rail  of 
dark  wood,  and  beautiful  hanging  and  wall  lamps  for  the 
evening  services.  The  walls  of  the  church  inside  and  outside 
are  as  white  as  snow.  The  steeple  contains  a  bell,  and  from  its 
summit  a  good  view  of  the  surrounding  country  can  be  ob- 
tained. It  would  fill  our  dear  mission  friends  in  America  with 
joy,  if  they  could  assemble  with  the  native  Christians  in  this 
comfortable  building.  Benches  are  placed  along  one  side, 
which  are  used  by  the  missionaries,  native  pastors,  European 
visitors,  and  a  few  of  the  male  Christians.  The  Telugu  con- 
gregation always  sits  cross-legged  on  the  mat,  that  being 
their  usual  manner  of  sitting,  in  the  following  order:  First, 
the  little  girls,  then  the  boys,  then  the  women,  and  lastly  the 
men.  The  people  present  quite  a  picturesque  appearance  in 
their  clean,  white  or  gaily  colored  clothes,  jackets  and  turbans. 


200      THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

We  were  deeply  impressed  with  the  neatness  and  order  among 
the  Christians,  young  and  old.  There  are  about  fifty  children 
and  forty  adults  who  attend  the  services  every  Sunday 
morning  at  8  o'clock,  and  in  the  afternoon  at  4.  The  singing 
is  very  hearty  and  spirited,  and  is  entirely  congregational. 
Everyone  joins  heartily  in  the  responses  of  the  liturgy.  Dur- 
ing the  entire  service,  which  generally  lasts  one  hour,  close 
attention  and  reverence  are  maintained.  Almost  every 
Sunday  some  heathen  come  into  the  church  or  stand  at  the 
open  doors  and  windows  to  see  and  to  listen.  They  cannot 
fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  great  difference  between  their 
shallow,  meaningless  idol-worship  and  our  solemn  services  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord." 

Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Artman  at  once  commenced  the  study 
of  Telugu.  On  November  2ist  they  took  charge  of  a  Sunday 
school  of  Eurasian  children,  which  had  been  started  by  Miss 
Elizabeth  Reade  on  the  verandah  of  her  home,  but  which,  as 
soon  as  the  Artmans  took  charge  of  it,  met  in  St.  Paul's 
Church.  Under  their  efficient  management  it  soon  had  sixty 
pupils  and  seven  teachers  enrolled.  Miss  Annie  Bilderbeck, 
who  served  as  the  organist  at  the  English  services,  rendered 
them  valuable  aid  in  this  Sunday  school. 

The  number  baptized  in  the  Mission  during  the  year  1880 
was  124,  making  536  since  1869.  The  adult  communicants 
at  the  close  of  the  year  numbered  216.  In  the  Rajahmundry 
school  there  were  36  boys  and  37  girls.  The  boarding  boys 
numbered  16,  the  boarding  girls  13.  The  Sunday  schools, 
one  in  Telugu  and  one  in  English,  enrolled  46  boys  and  53 
girls,  taught  by  twelve  teachers.  Eleven  native  Christian 
teachers  were  employed  in  as  many  village  schools  in  the  dis- 
tricts. 

The  expenditures  in  India  rose  to  a  total  of  $7558.23  in  1880, 
including  Rs.  6784,  or  $2917. 23,1  for  general  expenses,  $3550 
for  the  salaries  of  the  missionaries,  and  $1091  for  Poulsen's 
travelling  expenses  on  furlough. 

On  the  removal  of  the  Rev.  William  Ashmead  Schaeffer  to 
Chicago,  in  September,  1880,  his  father,  the  Rev.  C.  W. 

JThe  value  of  a  rupee  had  fallen  to  about  43  cents. 


PROGRESS    IN   EVERY   DIRECTION    (1880-82)  2OI 

Schaeffer,  D.  D.,  Professor  at  the  Theological  Seminary  in 
Philadelphia,  who  was  chosen  to  take  his  son's  place  as  a 
member  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee,  became  the 
editor  of  "The  Foreign  Missionary,"  which  then  had  about 
4000  subscribers.  The  "Missionsbote"  had  increased  the 
number  of  its  subscribers  to  13,500,  and  reported  a  surplus 
of  $987.27  at  the  close  of  the  year. 

One  of  the  evidences  of  an  increased  interest  in  the  Church 
at  home  was  the  organization,  in  1880,  of  a  student's  mis- 
sionary society  at  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Theological 
Seminary  in  Philadelphia,  under  the  name  of  "The  Father 
Heyer  Missionary  Society,"  which  from  the  first  devoted 
itself  primarily  to  the  study  and  support  of  foreign  missions. 

Having  put  a  temporary  thatch  of  river-grass  on  the 
new  bungalow,  "Riverdale,"  the  Rev.  Mr.  Schmidt  and  his 
wife,  with  their  daughter,  Dagmar,  on  January  30,  1881, 
moved  into  several  rooms  which  they  had  furnished,  and  the 
Artmans  took  possession  of  the  house  in  the  church-com- 
pound, formerly  occupied  by  the  Schmidts. 

During  January  and  a  part  of  February  the  Rev.  Mr.  Carl- 
son and  his  wife  used  the  "Dove  of  Peace"  for  an  extended 
tour  of  the  villages  in  the  delta  in  which  Christians  resided. 
Carlson  baptized  twenty-nine  adults  and  children  on  this 
tour.  He  complained  of  having  attacks  of  headache  almost 
every  day,  and  returned  in  rather  bad  health. 

In  March  Schmidt  took  Artman  in  the  "Dove  of  Peace"  on 
the  latter's  first  mission  tour  through  the  canals  of  the  delta. 
The  latter's  description  gives  an  excellent  idea  of  the  manner 
in  which  these  tours  are  usually  conducted: 

"After  stocking  the  mission-boat  with  provisions  and  other 
necessaries  sufficient  for  a  number  of  days,  we  set  sail  from 
Rajahmundry  on  February  2ist.  The  passengers  besides 
myself  were  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Schmidt  and  their  little  daughter, 
Dagmar,  Rev.  N.  Paulus,  Jeremiah,  the  colporteur,  Jacob, 
the  cook,  and  his  assistant.  Zachariah  was  at  the  helm  and 
with  the  help  of  four  boatmen  attended  to  the  navigation  of 
the  boat.  We  soon  entered  the  system  of  canals  which  spread 


202       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

like  a  network  over  the  delta  of  the  Godavery,  and  moved 
along  steadily  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  sometimes  using 
the  boat's  sail  and,  when  there  was  no  wind,  being  pulled 
along  by  the  boatmen  who  ran  along  the  tow-path,  or  being 
propelled  by  means  of  long  bamboo  poles  in  the  hands  of  the 
men.  We  sailed  on  steadily  for  the  first  three  days  without 
making  any  long  stops,  in  order  to  reach  the  most  distant 
villages  before  the  canal  would  be  closed.  .  .  .  Now  and  then 
we  would  pass  a  village,  which  always  presented  a  lively 
scene — women  coming  with  jars  or  chatties  to  carry  water 
to  their  homes,  balancing  them  gracefully  on  their  heads; 
washermen  beating  away  lustily  at  their  clothes;  here  and 
there  a  Brahmin  carefully  and  piously  attending  to  his  cere- 
monial ablutions. 

"The  vegetation  along  the  bank  was  very  beautiful,  con- 
sisting of  large  mango  orchards  with  their  partly  colored  leaves 
and  blossoms,  stately  palmyras  and  graceful  cocoanuts,  while 
the  banks  of  the  canals  throughout  were  lined  with  valuable 
shade  trees.  When  the  brightness  of  the  sun  would  not  let 
us  enjoy  the  outside  world,  we  spent  our  time  in  conversing, 
writing,  reading  or  studying.  In  the  cool  of  the  evening  it  was 
extremely  pleasant  to  sit  on  the  top  of  the  boat  in  the  bright 
moonlight  or  to  take  a  little  run  on  the  canal-bank  for  exercise. 
On  the  evening  of  the  second  day  we  came  very  near  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Godavery,  so  that  we  could  plainly  hear  the 
waves  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal  breaking  on  the  shore ;  and  a  herd 
of  dolphins  which  had  strayed  in  from  the  sea  passed  our  boat. 

"On  Wednesday  evening,  February  23d,  we  anchored  at  a 
distance  of  about  three  miles  from  Mahadevipatnam,  which 
was  the  farthest  point  we  expected  to  reach.  Tuesday  Brother 
Schmidt  and  I  took  our  breakfast  alone  and  made  an  early 
start  to  walk  to  Mahadevipatnam.  We  took  with  us  Rev.  N. 
Paulus,  Jeremiah,  Prakasam,  the  teacher  of  the  village,  Luke 
and  Samuel,  the  latter  also  a  native  of  the  village  and  father 
of  the  newly  baptized  Susie  Monroe.  We  had  to  cross  three 
streams  on  the  way.  Our  men  carried  us  over  the  first  one, 
almost  letting  me  drop  into  the  water.  The  second  one  we 
crossed  on  a  loose  raft  of  bamboo  sticks,  being  pushed  by  a 


PROGRESS    IN    EVERY   DIRECTION    (1880-82)  203 

man  wading  in  the  water.  The  third  creek  we  crossed  on  a 
palmyra  log.  It  was  not  an  easy  operation,  because  the  log 
was  round  and  very  slippery.  When  we  arrived  at  the  village 
at  last,  at  about  9  o'clock,  we  were  rewarded  by  the  edifying 
service  which  we  had  with  the  Christians,  about  twenty  in 
number,  in  the  village  schoolroom.  Many  heathen  also  came 
to  hear.  After  preaching  to  a  number  of  high-caste  men,  we 
started  on  our  way  back  to  the  boat.  In  the  evening  we  visited 
KummadaveUi — a  walk  of  four  miles.  This  is  a  new  village, 
there  being  as  yet  only  one  man  and  his  family  baptized.  .  .  . 
In  order  that  no  time  might  be  wasted,  the  boat  was  taken  to 
Bhimawaram  during  the  night.  This  is  a  very  large  village, 
but  we  have,  as  yet,  baptized  none  of  its  people.  We  started 
on  our  way  to  Taderu  at  about  half-past  six,  walking  through 
Bhimawaram  and  then  through  rice-stubble  fields,  a  distance 
of  more  than  four  miles.  Taderu  is  another  new  village  with 
only  six  Christians,  all  of  whom  had  been  baptized  a  few  days 
before  we  came  to  the  village.  We  returned  to  the  boat  and 
went  a  short  distance  up  the  canal  to  Annakoderu.  At  about 
4  o'clock  we  started  on  our  walk  from  the  canal  to  the  village. 
This  is,  without  doubt,  one  of  the  most  promising  and  prosper- 
ous villages  we  have,  because  Stephen,  the  teacher,  is  a  very 
energetic  and  active  Christian  worker.  In  about  three  years 
forty  have  been  baptized,  and  many  more  are  ready.  During 
the  devotional  meeting  the  school  children  and  the  congrega- 
tion sang  some  hymns  with  great  spirit,  being  accompanied 
on  a  drum  and  cymbals  by  the  teacher  and  another  Christian." 
There  follows  a  description  of  visits  to  Agartipalem, 
Palkole,  Jagganathpuram  and  Vodali.  Artman  then  con- 
tinues: "This  morning,  March  3d,  we  arrived  at  Velpur,  which 
serves  as  headquarters  for  Rev.  N.  Paulus  and  the  teachers  and 
sub-agents  belonging  to  the  villages  of  his  district.  For  the 
accommodation  of  the  native  pastor  and  his  family  a  large  and 
roomy  house  has  been  built,  one  portion  of  which  is  used  as  a 
place  of  worship  by  the  congregation  and  as  the  village 
schoolhouse.  .  .  .  Government  has  given  us  a  grant  of 
land  along  the  canal-bank  and  most  of  the  Christians  of 
Velpur  have  built  themselves  houses  adjoining  that  of  their 


204       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

pastor,  thus  forming  a  little  colony  of  their  own.  Most  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  are  Sudras.  In  the  evening  we  went 
out  into  the  village  and  preached  and  sang  hymns  at  three 
different  places.  Crowds  came  to  listen  each  time.  Under 
the  wide-spreading  branches  of  a  huge  tamarind  tree  in  the 
village  the  message  of  salvation  had  often  been  proclaimed 
by  Father  Heyer  and  other  missionaries,  and  here  also  the 
oldest  Christians  of  Velpur  were  baptized.  It  is  undoubtedly 
the  largest  tree  I  have  ever  seen.  In  walking  around  it  I  took 
twenty-six  steps." 

Carlson  continued  to  show  signs  of  failing  health,  and  it 
was  decided  to  have  him  live  at  Samulkot,  which  is  slightly 
cooler  than  Rajahmundry.  He  moved  thither  on  May  4, 
1 88 1,  and  occupied  the  old  bungalow  which  Long  had  built, 
half-way  between  Samulkot  and  Peddapur.  He  made  an  at- 
tempt to  do  some  mission  work,  holding  Telugu  services 
with  his  servants  and  some  of  the  townsfolk.  While  on  a 
tour  to  Coconada  after  a  sunstroke,  he  developed  insanity, 
in  September,  1881,  and  was  taken  to  an  asylum  in  Mad- 
ras, where  on  March  29,  1882,  he  died  at  the  early  age  of 
thirty-six  years,  seven  months  and  thirteen  days.  Concern- 
ing the  character  of  his  co-laborer  Poulsen  wrote:  "He  was 
a  faithful  servant  of  God,  a  zealous  and  hard-working  mis- 
sionary, a  dear  brother  and  fellow-worker.  It  is  but  fair  to 
his  memory,  fair  to  his  relatives  and  friends,  as  well  as  to 
his  supporters  as  a  missionary,  that  one  who  has  seen  him  at 
work  out  there,  should  bear  witness  that  he  was  a  most  faith- 
ful, zealous  and  self-denying  laborer.  From  all  that  I  can 
gather  it  was  his  zeal  which  gave  him  the  blow — exposing 
himself  too  much  to  the  dangerous  heat."  Immediately 
after  the  interment  of  the  body  of  her  husband  in  the  Lutheran 
cemetery  in  Madras  Mrs.  Carlson  returned  to  the  United 
States. 

Artman  took  charge  of  the  educational  work,  for  which  he 
proved  himself  to  be  eminently  fitted,  and  under  him  it  rose 
to  a  comparatively  high  plane  of  efficiency.1 

1  In  the  place  of  Lizzie,  who  died  of  consumption  in  March,  1881,  her  younger 
sister,  J.  Lorah,  was  appointed;  in  the  place  of  P.  V.  Ratnam,  who  was  trans- 


DYING  HINDU  HOLDING  A  COW'S  TAIL 

This   is   a    superstitious   ceremony    frequently    practiced   in    India.      It   is    done    in   the 

hope  of  having  the  soul  after  the  death  of  the  body  pass 

over  into  a   happy  future   state. 


A   HIGH    CASTE    HINDU    WOMAN 
Note   the   many   ornaments   which   she   wears,    one   appearing   even   in   her   nose. 


PROGRESS    IN   EVERY   DIRECTION    (1880-82)  205 

In  the  boys'  boarding  department  Artman  introduced  strict 
discipline,  against  which  some  rebelled  and  were  expelled. 
The  boarding  boys  attended  a  meeting  for  prayer  every 
morning  at  6  o'clock  in  St.  Paul's  Church.  After  school 
hours,  from  4  to  5  in  the  afternoon,  they  worked  in  the  mis- 
sionaries' gardens  or  made  themselves  useful  in  some  other 
way.  At  8  o'clock  in  the  evening  they  and  the  boarding 
girls  attended  evening  prayers  on  the  verandah  of  Artman's 
bungalow.  The  boarding  boys  and  girls  did  their  own  cooking, 
taking  turns,  two  by  two,  each  day.  J.  Henry,  one  of  the 
oldest  and  most  trustworthy  Christians,  who  was  a  warden 
in  the  district  jail,  assisted  in  the  oversight  of  the  boys. 

In  June,  1881,  a  separate  girls'  boarding  house  was  opened 
in  a  house  back  of  Artman's  bungalow,  and  N.  Deborah,  a 
Christian  widow,  was  placed  in  charge  as  matron.  Thirteen 
girls  were  cared  for  in  this  way.  Besides  their  school  work, 
they  spent  one  or  two  hours  a  day  in  sewing  under  Mrs. 
Artman's  instruction. 

A  new  door  of  opportunity  was  opened  for  mission  work 
in  August,  1881,  when  the  district  munsiff,  Narasimham,  ad- 
mitted Mrs.  Schmidt  and  Mrs.  Artman  to  his  home  for  the 
purpose  of  instructing  his  wife  and  daughter.  Mrs.  Artman 
described  their  first  zenana  visit  as  follows:  "When  Mrs. 
Schmidt  and  I  reached  the  residence  of  the  munsiff  we  found 
five  women  there  besides  the  munsiff's  wife  and  daughter. 
After  talking  with  them  for  a  while  it  was  easy  to  see  that  they 
only  wished  to  be  taught  certain  accomplishments.  They  ob- 
jected to  plain  sewing  and  did  not  care  for  Telugu.  They  were 
anxious  to  learn  English  and  fancy-work,  and  even  hinted 
about  our  teaching  them  music.  We  thought  it  better  that 

ferred  to  the  newly  established  caste  girls'  school,  M.  Alfred  was  appointed. 
M.  Amelia  was  made  teacher  of  the  second  division  of  the  first  class,  and  J. 
William  became  the  headmaster  of  the  school.  In  August,  1881,  36  boys  and 
37  girls  attended.  English  grammar,  reading,  penmanship  and  translations 
were  introduced  hi  addition  to  the  branches  taught  in  Telugu.  The  first  hour 
every  Monday  morning  was  devoted  to  a  review  of  the  sermon  of  the  previous 
day.  On  Saturday  morning  two  hours,  from  7  to  9,  were  set  aside  to  drill  the 
children  in  singing  hymns  committed  to  memory,  and  an  explanation  of  the 
hymns  learned  was  given  by  the  teacher.  The  regular  instruction  each  day  was 
given  from  7  to  n  in  the  morning  with  fifteen  minutes  recess,  and  from  2  to  4 
in  the  afternoon  with  ten  minutes  recess. 


206       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

they  should  learn  Telugu  first  and  that  those  who  could  read 
it  might  begin  English."1  After  opening  with  the  Lord's 
Prayer  Mrs.  Schmidt  taught  Bible  history  in  Telugu  and 
assigned  a  Scripture  text  to  be  memorized.  Then  Mrs.  Artman 
taught  English,  and  finally  both  gave  instruction  in  needle- 
work. Two  afternoons  a  week  were  devoted  to  this  first 
zenana  class  of  caste  women. 

In  1 88 1  the  translation  of  a  Church  Book  in  Telugu  was 
made  and  printed.  It  included  a  modified  form  of  the  Chief 
Service  of  the  General  Council's  Church  Book,  together  with 
the  Communion  Service,  the  Old  Evening  Service,  The  Litany 
and  the  Tables  of  Gospels  and  Epistles.  The  orders  for  Holy 
Baptism  and  Marriage  were  taken  from  the  Lueneberg  Ord- 
nung  as  translated  by  the  Hermannsburg  missionaries;  the 
orders  for  Confirmation  and  Burial,  from  the  Liturgy  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Ministerium.  The  book  formed  a  small  i2mo 
volume  and  was  dedicated  to  the  Rev.  F.  W.  Geissenhainer,  who 
before  his  death  had  provided  for  the  cost  of  its  publication. 

On  December  26,  1881,  a  Conference  of  missionaries  and 
native  agents  was  held  at  Rajahmundry.  "When  Father 
Heyer  was  here  in  India,"  wrote  Artman,  "he  established 
the  practice  of  holding  a  Conference  of  all  the  mission  agents 
on  the  day  after  Christmas.  The  custom  was  kept  up  pretty 
regularly  until  the  last  few  years.  This  year  seemed  to  por- 
tend such  great  things  for  our  Mission  that  both  Brother 
Schmidt  and  I  thought  it  necessary  that  these  Conferences 
should  be  resumed  and  regularly  conducted  hereafter.  We 
accordingly  called  the  Conference  to  meet  on  Monday  morn- 
ing, December  26,  1881."  Schmidt  was  elected  President, 
Artman,  English  Secretary,  and  J.  William,  Telugu  Secretary. 
Artman,  by  the  appointment  of  The  Foreign  Missions  Com- 
mittee, in  January,  1880,  was  the  Treasurer  of  the  Mission. 

Besides  the  foreign  missionaries  the  two  native  pastors  and 
fifteen  native  agents  were  present  at  the  Conference.  Com- 
plaint having  been  entered  against  some  of  the  village  teachers, 
C.  James  was  appointed  Inspector  of  Schools.  He  was  to  visit 

The  native  women,  even  of  the  high  castes,  were  formerly  not  only  not 
allowed,  but  were  forbidden,  to  learn  to  read  their  own  vernacular. 


PROGRESS    IN   EVERY   DIRECTION    (1880-82)  207 

each  school  at  least  twice  every  year  and  hold  semi-annual 
examinations.1 

To  encourage  self-support  the  Conference  resolved  that  each 
agent  drawing  a  salary  should  pay  at  least  one  "dub"  (f  cent) 
for  each  rupee  (40  cents)  of  salary  received  each  month. 
Those  who  received  no  salary  were  to  make  a  yearly  contribu- 
tion of  money  or  grain  at  the  harvest  time.  An  offering  was 
to  be  taken  every  Sunday  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Rajahmundry, 
by  passing  around  a  basket  or  bag,  so  as  to  give  every  one  an 
opportunity  to  contribute  something.2 

In  a  review  of  the  year  (1881),  Schmidt  reported  that  170 
persons  had  been  baptized,  and  that  six  new  villages  had  been 
occupied,  one  of  which  was  Tallapudi.  The  number  of  native 
workers  had  risen  to  23  at  the  close  of  the  year.  The  total 
expenditure  in  India  for  the  year  amounted  to  $6503.07,  of 
which  $3300  were  for  missionaries'  salaries. 

Progress  was  made  in  every  direction  during  the  year  1882. 
Especially  in  the  department  of  education  a  marked  advance 
over  former  years  was  made. 

Early  in  January,  1882,  the  Caste  Girls'  school  building  in 
the  Riverdale  compound  was  finished  at  a  cost  of  $200. 
The  day  after  the  formal  opening  the  teachers  assigned  for 
this  special  work  came  but  found  no  pupils.  Then  Schmidt 
and  P.  V.  Ratnam,  who  had  been  made  headmaster,  canvassed 
the  neighborhood  to  solicit  pupils.  Four  were  secured  in  this 
way,  and  the  number  gradually  rose  to  sixty  enrolled  pupils, 

1  The  following  rules,  drawn  up  by  Father  Heyer  in  his  time,  were  adopted: 
i.  The  village  teachers  must  attend  to  their  schools  faithfully  five  days  in  the 
week,  and  spend  Sunday  and  any  other  day  of  the  week  available  in  preaching 
in  their  own  and  neighboring  villages.     2.  The  village  teachers  are  allowed  to 
have  one  month's  leave  every  year.    If  they  take  more  than  a  month  their  pay 
will  be  lessened  according  to  the  number  of  days  absent.     3.  A  series  of  Gospel 
lessons  for  the  year  1882,  one  lesson  for  each  month,  to  be  used  as  texts  for 
sermons,  was  agreed  upon.    4.  It  was  resolved  that  each  village  teacher  should 
write  a  short  sermon  every  month  upon  a  Gospel  lesson  for  that  month  and 
also  a  paper  upon  a  subject  to  be  assigned  by  the  Inspector  of  Schools,  who  was 
to  examine  the  papers  and  report  on  them  to  the  officers  of  the  Conference.     5. 
No  children  were  to  be  admitted  to  the  boarding  schools  without  the  written 
application  of  an  ordained  native  pastor  and  the  Inspector  of  Schools. 

2  Other  resolutions  passed  by   the  Conference  were:  that  Sunday  schools 
should  be  organized  in  every  village,  and  that  a  Christian  "satram" — an  inn  or 
rest-house — should  be  built  at  Rajahmundry,  the  funds  to  be  gathered  among 
the  native  Christians. 


208       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

with  an  average  daily  attendance  of  twenty.  Mrs.  Schmidt 
acted  as  the  supervisor  of  this  branch  of  work  and  taught 
sewing  in  the  school.  The  brighter  pupils  soon  learned  to  read 
and  write  Telugu. 

Poulsen,  after  having  spent  a  year  and  nine  months  on  fur- 
lough, returned  to  India,  leaving  Copenhagen  on  December  5, 
1 88 1.  Three  of  his  children  were  left  in  Denmark,  and  the 
fourth  was  taken  to  India.  The  Foreign  Missions  Committee 
had  assigned  Poulsen  to  Samulkot,  and  directly  after  reaching 
Rajahmundry  on  January  9,  1881,  he  moved  to  that  town. 
He  succeeded  in  employing  a  number  of  teachers  who  had 
previously  served  at  Masulipatam.  Lakshmiah  was  ap- 
pointed catechist;  Amelia,  his  wife,  teacher  at  Peddapur; 
David,  teacher  at  Rajagopalem;  and  Francis,  teacher  at 
Katlamur.  In  October  Poulsen  baptized  his  first  convert  at 
Samulkot.  Gudaparti,  Ragampet  and  Gorinta  were  also 
occupied  before  the  close  of  the  year.  Nine  adults  and  three 
children  were  baptized  during  the  year  hi  the  new  district. 
In  seven  village  schools  38  boys  and  5  girls,  and  in  six  night 
schools  49  pupils  were  enrolled.  No  schoolhouses  were 
built,  but  in  one  or  two  places  the  school  met  on  the  verandah 
of  a  temple.  Services  were  conducted  in  Telugu  every  Sunday 
at  the  missionary's  bungalow,  the  teachers  and  Christians 
coming  from  the  several  villages  to  attend  them.  Sixteen 
communed  on  the  Sunday  before  Christmas. 

Two  young  ministers,  the  Revs.  E.  Pohl  and  H.  Bothmann, 
graduates  of  the  newly  established  Mission  Institute  at 
Breklum,  Schleswig-Holstein,  arrived  at  Rajahmundry  in 
March,  1882.  They  were  the  first  foreign  missionaries  sent 
out  by  the  Schleswig-Holstein  Missionary  Society  to  India. 
They  were  bound  for  Bastar,  a  tributary  kingdom,  several 
hundred  miles  to  the  north  of  Rajahmundry,  which  had 
been  chosen  by  their  Society  as  its  field  on  the  recommenda- 
tion of  our  missionaries,  who  offered  to  assist  them  in  the 
establishment  of  a  Mission.  They  started  from  Rajah- 
mundry on  March  i5th,  accompanied  by  Schmidt,  Artman, 
Mr.  Heelis,  a  Plymouth  Brethren  missionary  of  Narsapur, 
and  a  number  of  native  assistants  and  servants.  The  journey 


PROGRESS    IN   EVERY   DIRECTION    (1880-82)  209 

led  at  first  up  the  Godavery  River  and  its  tributary,  the 
Saveri,  as  far  as  they  could  take  their  boat,  then  across  the 
country  to  Jugdalpur,  the  capital  of  Bastar.  Here,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Indravaddi,  they  had  hoped  to  locate  the  first 
station.  The  Rajah  received  them  with  protestations  of  wel- 
come and  promises  of  assistance,  but  his  real  attitude  was 
one  of  hostility,  as  they  soon  learned.  Several  of  the  party 
were  ill  with  fever,  Mr.  Heelis  for  a  while  being  at  death's 
door.  The  Rajah  refused  to  provide  bearers  for  their  luggage. 
Supplies  of  food  and  material  for  a  mission  house,  paid  for  in 
advance,  were  withheld.  A  plot  to  massacre  the  whole  party 
of  whites  was  discovered.  The  Rohillas,  a  robber-band,  who 
brought  intelligence  of  this  dastardly  plot,  helped  the  mis- 
sionaries to  get  bearers,  and  during  the  night  before  the  day 
set  for  the  massacre  the  whole  party  fled  to  Koraput  in  the 
province'  of  Jeypur,  seventy  miles  away.  Mr.  Heelis  was 
carried  all  the  way  on  an  improvised  stretcher.  There  Pohl 
and  Bothmann  were  left  to  begin  their  Mission.  The  return 
of  the  others  to  Rajahmundry  proved  to  be  extremely  diffi- 
cult. When  they  reached  the  lowlands  the  heat  became  in- 
tolerable. Once  Heelis,  Artman  and  several  of  the  servants 
were  so  prostrated  that  they  lapsed  into  delirium.  When 
at  last  Rajahmundry  was  reached,  the  missionaries  were  ac- 
tually reduced  to  a  pitiful  condition  of  weakness  and  illness ; 
and  it  was  some  time  before  they  were  able  to  resume  their 
work.1 

The  Madras  Auxiliary  Bible  Society  established  a  Bible 
Depot  at  Rajahmundry  in  1882 ,  placing  it  in  charge  of  Schmidt, 
who  engaged  colporteurs  for  Rajahmundry  and  Samulkot. 

The  school  at  Rajahmundry  made  rapid  progress  under 
Artman.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1882  he  graded  the 
school  into  three  departments:  an  Upper  Department  with 
four  grades,  a  Lower  Department  with  four  grades,  and  a 

1  In  their  isolated  hill-station  Missionaries  Pohl  and  Bothmann  suffered 
from  fever  and  privation.  Weak  and  emaciated,  they  left  the  place  and  sought 
medical  attention  at  Madras.  In  April,  1883,  they  again  visited  Rajahmundry, 
and  then  bravely  went  back  to  their  mission  field,  locating  their  station  at  Salur. 
After  the  missionaries  had  reported  their  experience  and  treatment  in  Bastar, 
the  English  Government  sent  an  expedition  to  Jugdalpur  and  deposed  the 
Rajah. 

14 


210       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL   COUNCIL 

Primary  or  Sand-writing  Department.  After  his  return  from 
Jeypur  in  July,  he  added  a  Senior  Department  of  two 
grades,  for  the  benefit  of  the  married  men  who  wished  to 
prepare  themselves  for  work  as  teachers.  Although  this 
arrangement  for  an  abbreviated  course  of  training  was  con- 
tinued for  only  a  few  years,  and  the  hope  of  the  missionaries 
really  centered  on  the  young  men  who  were  regularly  trained, 
it  is,  nevertheless,  true  that  some  of  the  best  agents  the  Mis- 
sion ever  had,  were  secured  through  this  temporary  arrange- 
ment. In  September,  1882,  five  teachers  besides  Artman, 
1 20  enrolled  pupils  and  an  average  attendance  of  100  in  the 
school  were  reported. 

By  the  end  of  the  year  a  new  boarding  house  for  boys  had 
been  completed  at  a  cost  of  $200.  The  front  rooms  were 
occupied  as  a  residence  and  book-store  by  T.  Barnabas,  book- 
binder and  sexton  of  the  church.  The  younger  students 
occupied  the  rest  of  the  building,  while  the  old  boarding 
house  was  used  for  the  accommodation  of  the  older  students. 
Three  or  four  families  were  lodged  in  a  separate  building,  an 
old  shed,  divided  into  rooms  by  large  bamboo  mats. 

"This  year  again,"  wrote  Artman,  "loud  calls  are  made 
upon  us  for  a  mission  school  for  higher  castes  with  higher 
classes,  like  the  Noble  School  in  Masulipatam,  the  High 
School  in  Guntur,  the  Mission  School  in  Narsapur,  in  Amala- 
pur  and  other  places.  We  can  hardly  resist  the  calls.  We  are, 
however,  trying  to  await  patiently  the  guidance  of  Providence, 
and  even  if  we  should  deem  it  necessary  and  advisable  to  begin 
this  work,  we  would  not  allow  it  to  interfere  with  the  Govern- 
ment School,  nor  would  we  be  able  to  undertake  more  than 
two  higher  classes."  Artman  was  really  attempting  single 
handed  to  undertake  this  higher  education,  for  he  met  fifteen 
or  more  Brahmin  boys  every  day  for  an  hour's  instruction  in 
English  and  religion. 

At  the  Mission  Conference  on  December  26,   1882,   the 

former  officers  were   re-elected.     Artman   reported   Rs.    16 

received  for  the  satram,  but  not  a  single  pice1  for  self-support. 

Collections,  however,  had  been  taken  every  Sunday  in  St. 

1  The  pice  is  one-fourth  of  an  anna,  or  one-half  a  cent. 


PROGRESS    IN    EVERY   DIRECTION    (1880-82)  211 

Paul's  Church,  which  amounted  during  the  year  to  Rs.  41.2.9. 
This  was  regarded  as  encouraging.  James  reported  that  he 
had  visited  all  of  the  village  schools  twice  during  the  year, 
that  the  teachers  had  written  their  sermons  and  papers,  and 
that  200  children  were  attending  the  mission  schools.  Seven 
new  teachers,  graduates  of  the  Rajahmundry  Training  School, 
were  given  employment  and  admitted  as  members  of  the 
Conference.1  Schmidt  advocated  the  employment  of  teachers 
in  the  district  from  which  they  came,  and  only  in  villages 
in  which  there  were  at  least  ten  Christian  families.  The 
Conference,  however,  finally  decided  to  distribute  them  as 
evenly  as  possible  in  all  the  districts.  For  the  sake  of  better 
order  and  records  a  book  was  to  be  kept  in  each  village,  in 
which  the  teachers  were  to  record  all  important  events  and  the 
results  of  examinations. 

After  the  Conference  the  missionaries  met  as  a  Ministerium 
and  among  other  things  decided  on  a  revision  of  the  Catechism. 
The  total  number  of  baptisms  during  1882  was  reported  to 
have  been  262,  of  which  160  had  been  performed  by  Pastor 
N.  Paulus  in  the  Velpur  district. 

Three  new  members  were  added  to  the  Foreign  Missions 
Committee  by  the  General  Council  in  1881,  namely,  the  Revs. 
R.  F.  Weidner  and  F.  W.  Weiskotten  of  Philadelphia,  and 
Mr.  B.  Lilja.  In  November,  1881,  the  Rev.  William  Ashmead 
Schaeffer  who  had  returned  to  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  was  again 
made  a  member  of  the  Committee,  and  was  elected  associate 
editor  of  "The  Foreign  Missionary"  in  the  place  of  Dr.  B.  M. 
Schmucker,  resigned.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Weiskotten  was  elected 
an  associate  editor  of  the  "Missionsbote,"  which  had  a  surplus 
of  $800. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  General  Council  in  1882  the  Rev. 
C.  G.  Fischer  of  Germantown,  Pa.,  who  had  been  acting  as 
business  agent  for  the  Board's  newspapers  since  October,  1881, 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Committee  to  fill  the  vacancy 
created  by  the  resignation  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Weidner. 

1  Four — N.Isaac,  T.  Samuel  Joseph,  B.  John  and  J.  John  Henry — had  been 
trained  in  the  school  since  their  childhood;  three — G.  Cornelius,  R.  Johannu 
and  B.  David  Appayyah — had  been  students  in  the  school  for  only  six  months 


CHAPTER  VIII 

BETTER  ADMINISTRATION   (1883-85) 

ON  January  2,  1883,  the  seventh  foreign  missionary  of  the 
General  Council  arrived  at  Rajahmundry. 

Franklin  S.  Dietrich  was  born  in  1853,  in  Albany  Township, 
Berks  County,  Pa.  He  was  graduated  from  the  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Theological  Seminary  in  Philadelphia  in  1882,  and 
was  ordained  at  the  convention  of  the  Ministerium  of  Penn- 
sylvania that  year,  on  June  5th,  in  St.  John's  English  Church, 
Philadelphia.  He  had  received  the  call  of  the  Foreign  Mis- 
sions Committee  in  August,  1882,  and,  having  accepted  it,  was 
commissioned  in  Trinity  Church,  Reading,  Pa.,  Tuesday 
evening,  October  3d.  Twenty-five  ministers  occupied  seats 
in  the  chancel  and  front  pews  of  the  church,  and  the  auditorium 
was  filled  to  overflowing.  The  Rev.  J.  A.  Seiss,  D.  D.,  and  the 
Rev.  B.  M.  Schmucker,  D.  D.,  conducted  the  services.  The 
Rev.  Samuel  Laird,  D.  D.,  preached  the  sermon  in  English 
and  the  Rev.  H.  Grahn,  D.  D.,  delivered  a  German  address. 
The  Chairman  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee,  the  Rev. 
A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  commissioned  the  missionary,  calling  on  him 
to  answer  the  following  questions: 

"Are  you  now  willing  and  ready,  after  careful  and  prayer- 
ful consideration,  to  enter  the  service  of  our  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church  as  a  missionary  to  the  heathen? 

"Will  you  preach  the  pure  Word  of  God  according  to  the 
Confessions  of  our  Church,  and  adorn  her  doctrine  by  a  holy 
life? 

"Are  you  willing  and  ready  to  sacrifice  all  things  to  your 
holy  calling,  if  so  be  even  to  lay  down  your  life  for  the  Name 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ?" 

In  a  clear,  firm  voice  the  missionary  answered:  "Yes,  with 
my  whole  heart,  the  Lord  helping  me  with  the  power  and 
grace  of  His  Holy  Spirit."  Kneeling,  the  missionary  received 


BETTER   ADMINISTRATION    (1883-85)  213 

the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  officers  of  the  Committee. 
Then  Dr.  J.  Fry,  the  pastor  of  the  congregation,  presented  the 
missionary  with  a  communion  set,  which  was  the  gift  of  the 
Sunday  school  of  Trinity  Church. 

Dietrich  left  New  York  on  October  16,  1882,  and  arrived 
at  Rajahmundry  on  the  second  day  of  the  new  year.1  Two 
days  after  his  arrival  the  missionaries  met  at  Rajahmundry 
to  revise  Luther's  Small  Catechism.  The  native  pastors, 
together  with  C.  James  and  J.  William,  and  a  Telugu  pundit, 
Subbarayadu,  assisted  the  missionaries  in  this  revision.  After 
four  days  of  incessant  labor  the  work  was  done.2 

Dietrich,  besides  studying  Telugu  under  Subbarayadu, 
gave  two  or  three  hours'  instruction  each  day  in  English 
branches  in  the  Rajahmundry  school  and  preached  English 
every  other  Sunday  in  the  church,  alternating  with  Artman. 

In  January,  1883,  Artman  accompanied  Schmidt  on  a  tour 
through  the  district  north  of  Rajahmundry.  After  visiting 
Metta  and  Peddahem  they  went  to  Tallapudi  to  select  a 
site  for  a  missionary's  bungalow.  Artman  wrote:  "Brother 
Schmidt  and  I  are  convinced  that  it  is  necessary  to  enlarge 
our  work  in  this  direction  on  this  side  of  the  Godavery  River. 
.  .  .  The  missionary  in  Tallapudi  should  attend  to  the  work 
as  far  as  Polavaram.  The  whole  district  is  in  a  very  flour- 
ishing state  and  many  are  inquiring  about  the  way  of 
salvation." 

Another  town  in  which  it  was  desired  soon  to  locate  a 
missionary  was  Dowlaishwaram.  Had  Carlson  lived,  Poul- 
sen  would  have  been  assigned  to  this  station.  The  few 
Christians  who  resided  at  Dowlaishwaram  were  obliged  to 
attend  services  in  Rajahmundry,  five  miles  away.  The 
school  which  Heyer  had  begun  in  Dowlaishwaram  had  been 
abandoned.  A  retired  engineer,  Mr.  Theodore  Van  S tavern, 
however,  had  established  and  maintained  a  number  of  schools 
in  the  town  at  his  own  expense,  and,  in  1883,  offered  to  co- 
operate with  the  Mission  and  at  his  removal  or  death  to 

1  His  travelling  expenses  to  India  amounted  to  $320.50. 

2  The  revision  was  published  in  a  form  to  correspond  with  that  of  the  Telugu 
Church  Book,  so  that  they  could  be  bound  together. 


214   THE  TELUGU  MISSION  OF  THE  GENERAL  COUNCIL 

transfer  his  schools  to  the  Mission.  Moreover,  he  gave 
Rs.  300  toward  the  purchase  of  ground  and  the  erection  of  a 
school-building  for  the  use  of  the  Mission.  The  site  pur- 
chased was  on  the  main  road  in  a  caste  quarter.  Artman 
undertook  to  preach  in  the  town  every  Sunday  evening  except 
when  on  tour.1 

On  January  28,  1883,  a  bell  for  St.  Paul's  Church,  donated 
by  friends  in  St.  Michael's  Church,  German  town,  Philadel- 
phia, and  packed  with  other  gifts  for  the  missionaries  in  the 
so-called  Christmas  boxes,  arrived  at  Rajahmundry.  Schmidt 
superintended  the  hanging  of  this  bell  in  the  tower  of  the 
church,  where  it  displaced  the  gong  which  had  been  in  use  up 
to  that  time. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schmidt  with  their  daughter  Dag- 
mar  left  Rajahmundry  on  March  27,  1883,  on  a  well-earned 
furlough,  Schmidt  having  been  in  India  nearly  thirteen  years. 
He  was  accompanied  by  Duncan  McCready,  an  orphan,  whom 

1  Artman  described  the  festival  of  Juggernaut  at  Dowiaishwaram  as  follows: 
"I  walked  through  the  crowded  streets  till  I  came  into  the  very  center  of  the 
excitement,  where  the  huge  car  of  Juggernaut  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  great 
stairway  which  leads  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill  on  which  the  temple  stands. 
The  streets  were  full  of  devotees  of  all  ages,  sizes  and  descriptions,  from  all  the 
villages  within  a  circuit  of  thirty  or  forty  miles,  some  on  their  way  to  make  their 
offerings  of  fruit  and  money  to  the  idol,  others  intent  on  enjoying  the  gay  scene 
and  making  purchases  of  fruits,  toys  and  confectionary  from  the  stands  which 
had  been  erected  all  along  the  streets.  The  number  of  people  was  great  when  I 
arrived,  and  it  increased  apace  as  evening  drew  nigh,  when  the  great  car  was  to  be 
be  dragged  through  the  streets.  This  huge  structure  on  wheels  is  built  very 
strongly  and  is  very  ponderous.  It  has  stages  or  stories,  about  five  in  all,  which 
grow  smaller  toward  the  top.  During  the  intervals  between  the  annual  festivals 
these  cars  are  generally  allowed  to  stand  out  in  the  open  air.  Sometimes, 
however,  they  are  covered  with  a  shield  of  palmyra  leaves  to  protect  them  a 
little.  On  festival  occasions  the  rough  and  uninviting  appearance  of  the  wood 
is  quite  hidden  by  the  gaily  colored  cloth,  plantain  and  cocoanut  leaves,  flowers 
and  other  decorations.  At  the  apex  of  the  car  I  saw  a  strange  figure  in  brass 
with  a  gay  purple  umbrella  over  it,  as  if  to  protect  it  from  the  sun's  rays.  I 
concluded  that  this  must  be  the  representation  of  the  god.  I  found  a  party  of 
our  boarding  boys  busily  engaged  in  preaching  to  a  number  of  heathen  close  to 
the  car,  and  at  once  joined  them  to  assist  them  to  close  the  mouths  of  the  im- 
pertinent, bigoted  young  Brahmins.  Some  of  the  teachers  from  Rev.  Joseph's 
district  also  joined  us,  and  we  at  last  succeeded  in  closing  the  mouths  of  the  two 
brawlers,  so  that  those  who  were  willing  to  listen  could  do  so.  We  preached 
in  four  or  five  other  places,  always  singing  hymns  to  gain  silence  and  attention. 
We  also  went  up  the  stairway  to  the  temple  wall  but  were  not  allowed  to  enter 
its  precincts.  Our  colporteur,  Venkataswami,  our  unpaid  evangelist,  Isaiah, 
Rev.  Joseph  and  some  of  our  Christian  women  and  boarding  girls  were  also 
present,  so  that  there  was  a  large  force  of  Christian  workers  at  hand  to  preach 
to  the  great  multitude  of  heathen  present." 


BETTER    ADMINISTRATION    (1883-85)  215 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Artman  sent  to  America  to  receive  an  educa- 
tion. 

After  the  departure  of  the  Schmidts  the  Artmans  moved 
into  the  "Riverdale"  bungalow,  Dietrich  remaining  in  full 
possession  of  the  one  in  the  church  compound.  Poulsen 
lived  at  Samulkot. 

Concerning  the  Hindu  Girls'  School,  of  which  Mrs.  Artman 
had  charge  after  the  departure  of  Mrs.  Schmidt,  she  wrote  in 
1883:  "The  fact  that  a  missionary's  wife  spends  one  hour  in 
the  school  every  day  teaching  the  children  needle- work  proves 
to  be  one  of  the  main  attractions  of  the  school.  At  present 
there  are  at  least  seventy  pupils,  but  there  is  an  average  at- 
tendance of  only  forty.  This  is  due  to  the  innumerable  feasts, 
weddings,  etc.,  which  the  children  attend.  At  present  sore  eyes, 
a  disease  peculiar  to  this  country,  is  keeping  many  away. 
There  are  two  classes.  The  first,  taught  by  P.  V.  Ratnam, 
has  finished  the  Telugu  First  Book,  which  is  a  Christian  book, 
has  learned  a  little  arithmetic,  and  is  ready  to  begin  geography. 
In  the  second  class,  taught  by  Venkayya,  the  Brahmin,  some 
are  studying  the  alphabet  and  some  have  begun  to  spell. 
As  soon  as  they  can  spell  they  are  allowed  to  join  the  sewing 
class.  Most  of  the  children  are  very  young,  none  over  twelve 
years  of  age,  and  some  are  as  young  as  four,  so  that  Mrs. 
Schmidt  and  I  found  it  necessary  to  engage  a  person  to  bring 
the  little  ones  to  and  from  school.  .  .  .  The  little  Christian 
sentences  which  many  have  learned,  carelessly  perhaps  now, 
and  the  hymns  they  sing,  may  take  a  hold  in  their  young 
minds,  which  will  have  a  bearing  on  their  future  lives  and,  we 
hope,  may  bring  some  to  the  true  life.  .  .  .  The  girls  are  very 
dirty,  even  though  they  are  caste  girls.  Upon  occasion,  how- 
ever, they  can  look  well,  and  load  themselves  with  jewelry; 
but,  as  a  rule,  they  have  very  little  idea  of  cleanliness  and  can- 
not understand  our  scruples  on  this  point.  As  soon  as  the  girls 
come  to  me  I  send  them  to  the  Godavery  with  a  piece  of  soap, 
and  if  their  hair  still  looks  untidy  I  do  not  allow  them  to  sew, 
which  is  a  great  punishment.  As  they  never  have  been  in 
school  before  it  is  hard  to  teach  them  how  to  behav^  properly. 
At  first  they  act  as  if  they  were  in  the  street,  talking,  laugh- 


2l6       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

ing  and  quarreling  with  each  other.  They  show  their  caste 
prejudice  strangely  in  regard  to  water.  They  will  not  drink 
our  well-water  but  must  have  water  brought  from  the  Go- 
davery  by  a  caste  man  especially  for  them.  Our  well-water  is 
filtered,  clear  and  cool,  while  the  Godavery  water  is  muddy; 
but  I  suppose  they  receive  their  instructions  at  home.  Occa- 
sionally, if  it  is  impossible  to  get  other  water,  they  will  taste 
ours,  if  buttermilk  is  put  into  it,  which  is  supposed  to  be  very 
purifying.  They  will,  however,  eat  oranges,  plantains  and 
candy,  which  we  give  them,  without  hesitation." 

As  helpers  in  the  woman's  work  Mrs.  Artman  engaged 
Miss  J.  G.  McCready,  a  sister  of  Mr.  F.  J.  McCready,  and 
Miss  M.  A.  Payne.  In  her  letters  to  America  she  urged  the 
sending  out  of  single  ladies  as  woman  missionaries,  but  the 
Church  was  not  yet  ready  for  such  a  step. 

Artman  rapidly  developed  the  educational  work  of  the 
Mission  during  the  year  1883.  On  February  27th  he  organized 
his  class  of  Brahmin  boys  into  the  sixth  grade  of  the  mission 
school,  beginning  with  twenty-one  pupils.  They  were  taught 
in  all  branches  necessary  to  matriculation.  The  Telugu 
pundit,  Subbarayadu,  was  engaged  as  the  Telugu  teacher 
with  a  salary  of  20  rupees  a  month.  Artman  and  Dietrich 
took  the  English  branches,  each  giving  two  hours  instruction 
daily.  One  hour  each  day  was  spent  in  reading  the  Bible 
with  comments  by  the  missionaries.  The  class  met  in  a  room 
of  the  bungalow  opposite  the  church  compound  and  in  one  of 
the  schoolrooms  of  St.  Paul's  Church.  The  pupils  were 
also  obliged  to  attend  the  English  services  in  St.  Paul's  Church 
every  Sunday  and  Wednesday  and  were  expected  to  come  to  the 
English  Sunday  school.  This  was,  therefore,  the  first  attempt 
in  our  Mission  to  conduct  a  Boys'  High  School,  the  organiza- 
tion and  maintenance  of  which  became  a  source  of  much  dis- 
cussion and  difference  of  opinion  both  in  India  and  in  America; 
but  Artman  undertook  the  work  with  the  sincere  desire  of 
influencing  the  higher  classes  in  Rajahmundry  through  this 
Brahmin  school. 

Artman  also  started  a  Normal  Department  on  June  2oth, 
beginning  with  fifteen  teachers  whom  he  wished  to  give  a  nor- 


HINDU   FAKIR   LYING   ON   A   BED   OF    SPIKES 

One    of    the    many    practices    of    Hindu    fakirs    who    seek    to    gain    merit    by    enduring 

self-inflicted   pain. 


THE  CAR  OF  THE  GOD  OF  KORUKONDA 

When    the    festivals   are   observed   the   idols   are   drawn   about    through    the    streets    in 
procession   in   cars   like   this   one. 


THE    SACRED    HILL    OF    KORUKONDA 


THE    TEMPLE    ON    KORUKONDA    HILL 


BETTER   ADMINISTRATION    (1883-85)  217 

mal  training.  This  department  was  divided  into  two  classes 
and  was  taught  by  three  teachers,  namely,  J.  John  Henry, 
N.  Sriramulu  and  N.  Isaac. 

Despite  his  special  interest  in  the  educational  work  Artman 
did  not  neglect  the  district  work  during  Schmidt's  absence  on 
furlough.  In  March,  1883,  he  visited  Korukonda  at  the  time 
of  the  annual  festival  of  the  god  Narasimham,  accompanied  by 
Pastor  Joseph  and  a  number  of  Christian  teachers,  preaching 
to  the  multitudes  which  congregated  there  on  that  occasion.1 

1  "Korukonda,"  wrote  Artman,  "is  noted  for  its  peculiar  cone-shaped  hill 
about  700  to  800  feet  high,  on  the  summit  of  which  a  large  heathen  temple  has 
been  built,  which  is  annually  made  the  center  of  a  great  heathen  festival,  the 
pilgrims  coming  from  a  great  distance  to  worship  the  god.  The  steep  stone 
steps  leading  up  to  the  temple  were  covered  with  devotees  going  up  to  make  their 
offerings  of  rice,  fruit  or  money  to  the  god,  and  then  returning.  The  stairway 
being  steep  and  difficult  of  ascent,  and  as  there  are  over  600  steps,  it  is  considered 
a  work  of  merit  to  ascend  them.  We  found  the  steps  lined  with  beggars  of  both 
sexes  and  all  ages  and  descriptions,  who  were  continually  calling  out  to  the 
passers-by  for  alms  at  the  top  of  their  voices.  Some  charitable  women  dropped 
a  few  grams  of  rice  or  a  few  cowries  (shells  used  in  exchange,  much  less  in  value 
than  a  United  States  mill)  into  each  outstretched  hand  or  basket.  About 
7.30  P.  M.  the  great  heathen  car  of  Juggernaut  was  pulled  along  the  rough  and 
crooked  streets  with  a  heavy  rumbling  noise  as  of  distant  thunder,  amid  the  ac- 
clamations of  the  multitudes  and  showers  of  plantains,  which  were  being  hurled 
up  at  the  idol  in  the  car  from  all  sides  and  greedily  grabbed  and  stored  away  for 
sale  by  the  fat  Brahmins  who  were  riding  in  the  car.  At  the  same  time  the 
dancing  or  nautch  girls  were  disporting  themselves  in  their  slow,  unanimated 
and  uninteresting  attempt  at  dancing  before  the  car.  Here  and  there  priests 
in  dirty  red  robes  and  tinsel  ephods  were  going  about  among  the  poor,  ignorant 
people  and  extorting  money  from  them  by  various  superstitious  and  deceitful 
methods.  In  one  place  we  saw  one  of  the  weirdest  and  most  fanatical  scenes 
of  the  occasion.  A  large  circle  of  people  had  been  formed,  within  which  ten  or 
a  dozen  men  were  jumping  and  capering  about.  Several  had  a  network  of 
flaming  fire-brands  on  their  heads,  the  flames  almost  enveloping  their  heads  and 
shoulders  as  they  made  upward  leaps,  and  the  sparks  frequently  fell  upon  their 
bare  skin.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  attendants  in  the  circle,  who  carried  brooms 
or  dusters,  to  brush  away  the  sparks  from  the  bodies  of  these  fire-fiends.  We 
made  our  way  with  some  difficulty  to  our  cart  and  started  homeward,  not  without 
admiring  the  illumination  of  the  hill  and  temple  by  means  of  small  oriental 
lamps  of  a  very  simple  pattern,  which  were  placed  one  on  each  end  of  every  step 
and  all  around  the  temple  wall.  I  must  not  forget  to  relate  an  incident  which 
occurred  to-day.  John  and  I  were  standing  at  a  corner  speaking  to  a  crowd  of 
men  who  were  anxious  to  learn  something  about  the  way  of  salvation,  when,  as 
is  often  the  case,  a  bigoted,  caste-bound  and  most  insolent  upstart,  a  young 
Brahmin,  made  his  way  into  the  crowd  and  put  an  end  to  all  preaching  by  his  vile 
and  unreasonable  remarks  and  sarcasm.  At  last,  when  we  threatened  to  hand 
him  over  to  the  police,  he  went  a  short  distance  away  and,  mounting  a  slight 
eminence,  began  to  blaspheme  and  mockingly  tried  to  imitate  our  preaching 
and  manners.  At  this  juncture  one  of  our  old  Christian  women  in  Rev.  Joseph's 
party  came  to  the  rescue.  She  walked  straight  up  to  the  young  brawler,  and 
although  he  abused  her  and  tried  to  drive  her  away,  she  stood  firm  and  spoke 
so  earnestly  to  him  about  Christ  and  his  love  and  showed  the  wickedness  of 


2l8       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

After  closing  the  schools  for  the  hot  season  he  toured  in  the 
Tallapudi  district  and  took  possession  of  sites  for  school- 
houses  granted  by  the  government  in  Guddigudem,  Nandamur 
and  Kovur. 

The  parochial  reports  at  the  end  of  the  first  half  of  the  year 
1883,  showed  that  the  work  in  the  Velpur  district  under  the 
direction  of  Pastor  Paulus  was  making  much  more  rapid 
progress  than  in  any  other  district.  While  Pastor  Joseph 
in  the  Jegurupad  district  reported  fifty-seven  baptized  Chris- 
tians and  thirty-three  inquirers  in  twelve  villages,  and  Rev. 
I.  K.  Poulsen  in  the  Samulkot  district,  twenty- three  baptisms 
for  the  whole  year,  Pastor  Paulus  reported  as  many  as  one 
hundred  and  thirty-nine  baptisms  during  the  year,  one 
hundred  and  six  communicants,  twenty- five  villages  in 
which  Christians  or  inquirers  resided,  and  one  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  children  in  thirteen  village  schools.1 

At  the  annual  Conference  of  missionaries  and  native  agents 
held  January  3-5,  1884,  a  number  of  important  matters  were 
discussed  and  decided.  The  Rev.  I.  K.  Poulsen  was  elected 
chairman  of  the  Conference.  Forty  persons  were  enrolled 
as  members,  among  them  two  lay  delegates.  The  question 
of  admitting  a  person  into  the  Church  by  Holy  Baptism  if 
he  had  more  than  one  wife,  was  discussed  and  finally  left  to 
the  discretion  of  each  missionary.  The  motion  to  permit 
government  school-inspectors  to  visit  and  examine  village 
schools  with  a  view  to  their  receiving  grants  was  defeated. 
C.  James  resigned  as  the  Mission's  Inspector  of  Schools,  and 
that  office  was  left  vacant.  The  problem  of  caste  was  dis- 

his  conduct  so  convincingly  to  all  present  as  well  as  to  the  fellow  himself,  that  he 
turned  about  and  slunk  away  in  the  crowd,  followed  by  the  laughter  and  jeers 
of  his  companions.  To-day  I  also  saw  a  genuine  devotee  or  fakir,  whose 
method  of  gaining  merit  was  in  lying  full-length  upon  the  ground  and  propelling 
himself  from  place  to  place  by  his  knees  and  elbows.  He  was  attended  by  a 
little  girl  who  looked  dirty  and  neglected.  The  miserable  man  held  a  small  pot 
in  one  hand  to  receive  alms,  and  it  was  wonderful  to  see  with  what  skill  he 
managed  to  keep  his  pot  upright  as  he  rolled  along  without  spilling  its  contents 
of  rice  and  cowries.  Is  not  this  a  heart-rending  commentary  on  the  sad  and 
lost  condition  of  the  Hundus?  " 

1  The  total  expenditure  in  India  during  the  year  July  i ,  1882,  to  June  30, 1883, 
was  $7225.01,  of  which  $3600  were  for  the  salaries  of  the  four  missionaries, 
$J373-72  for  the  salaries  of  native  agents,  $697.65  for  schools  in  Rajahmundry, 
$1307.98  for  buildings  and  sites  and  $245.66  for  miscellaneous  expenses. 


BETTER   ADMINISTRATION    (1883-85)  219 

cussed,  and  it  was  resolved,  as  the  sense  of  the  Conference, 
that  among  Christians  there  can  be  no  caste  distinctions; 
nevertheless,  in  the  treatment  of  caste  people  the  admonition 
of  the  Lord  should  be  observed,  "Be  ye  as  wise  as  serpents  and 
harmless  as  doves."  In  the  matter  of  self-support  it  was 
resolved  that  every  mission  agent  should  give  one  pice  more, 
namely,  four  pice  for  every  rupee  of  salary. 

After  the  adjournment  of  the  Conference  the  ordained  mis- 
sionaries met  as  a  ministerial  committee,  and  resolved,  among 
other  things,  that  the  district  lying  north  of  a  line  drawn  from 
Polavaram  to  Guddigudem  to  the  left  of  the  Godavery  River, 
and  between  Purushottapatnam  and  Gokavaram  to  the  right 
of  the  river,  should  be  regarded  as  the  fever  district  (manyam), 
and  that  teachers  stationed  in  this  fever  district  should 
receive  higher  salary.1 

The  salary  of  a  catechist  was  fixed  at  Rs.  10  a  month,  that 
of  a  Bible  woman  or  female  teacher  at  Rs.  3  to  5  a  month. 
The  erection  of  a  schoolhouse  and  church  at  Samulkot  was 
recommended,  and  Poulsen  was  given  authority  to  begin  a 
boarding  school  for  boys  and  girls  in  the  Samulkot  district. 
The  missionaries  requested  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee 
of  the  General  Council  to  formulate  rules  and  regulations  for 
the  better  government  of  the  Mission. 

The  year  1884  proved  to  be  the  most  eventful  one  in  the 
history  of  the  Mission  up  to  that  time.  With  Artman  as 
acting  director  of  the  Mission,  in  fact  though  not  in  name, 
it  began  to  assume  the  position  of  a  recognized  and  influential 
factor  in  the  life  of  Rajahmundry  and  its  environs.  The 
natives,  unaccustomed  to  such  zeal  and  activity  as  Artman 
displayed,  were  amazed  at  his  untiring  efforts  in  every  depart- 
ment of  the  work.  On  January  i,  1884,  he  formally  organ- 
ized a  Mission  High  School  for  Boys,  beginning  with  seven 
teachers,  all  of  whom  were  non-Christians,  and  fifty  students, 
ten  of  whom  were  Christians  and  the  rest  Brahmins.  The 
classes  met  in  the  bungalow  opposite  the  church  compound. 
Dietrich  helped  him  to  organize  and  conduct  this  school. 

1 N.  Timothy,  B.  Prakasam,  K.  Joseph,  P.  Moses  and  A.  Samuel,  graduates 
of  Class  A.,  Normal  School,  were  examined  and  assigned  work  as  teachers. 


220       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Of  the  74  boarding  boys  reported  in  January,  1884,  25  were 
supported  by  patrons  in  America,  58  lived  in  boarding  houses 
on  the  mission  compound,  6  with  parents  or  relatives  in  town, 
and  9  were  married  men.  Of  the  28  boarding  girls,  9  were 
supported  by  patrons  in  America.  Three  Sunday  schools 
continued  to  support  as  teachers  those  whom  they  had  sup- 
ported as  pupils  in  the  boarding  school,  thus  inaugurating 
this  system  of  supporting  native  Christian  workers. 

Artman  felt  that  some  effort  should  be  made  to  reach  the 
Mohammedan  population  of  the  town  and,  therefore,  began  a 
school  for  Mohammedan  boys  on  January  10,  1884,  starting 
with  thirty  pupils  and  three  teachers,  all  of  whom  were 
Mohammedans.  Hindustani  was  taught  instead  of  Telugu. 
In  order  to  give  it  some  semblance  of  a  Christian  school, 
Artman,  Dietrich  and,  in  their  absence,  J.  William  Henry, 
gave  an  hour's  instruction  each  day  in  the  Old  Testament. 

After  the  girls  had  been  moved  into  their  new  boarding 
house  and  the  Normal  Department  had  been  reopened, 
Artman  spent  the  closing  week  of  January  in  the  Tallapudi 
district,  where  he  visited  nine  villages,  baptized  twenty-four 
persons1  and  confirmed  three.  He  administered  the  Holy 
Communion  to  over  forty  persons  in  these  villages.  Some 
time  during  February  he  dedicated  a  chapel  at  Dowlaish- 
waram,  which  he  called  St.  Mark's  Chapel.  Then  for  ten 
days  he  itinerated  with  Dietrich  in  the  Velpur  district,  going 
as  far  as  Narsapur.2  After  the  government  inspection  of 
the  Rajahmundry  schools  by  Mr.  Grigg,  about  the  middle 
of  March,  Artman  and  Dietrich  took  a  trip  up  the  Godavery 
River  in  the  "Dove  of  Peace,"  going  as  far  as  the  gorge. 

After  the  Easter  festival3  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Artman  with  their 
two  little  sons  went  to  spend  the  hot  season  at  Bimlipatam 
on  the  coast;  but  Artman  was  not  content  to  remain  idle  for 
any  length  of  time,  so,  leaving  his  family  there,  he  journeyed 

1  Six  at  Sringaram,  eight  at  Guddigudem,  one  at  Peddahem,  eight  at  Penaka- 
lametta  and  one  at  Tallapudi. 

2  They  visited  Agartipalem,  where  sixteen  persons  were  baptized  by  them; 
Palkole,   where  five  were  baptized;  Jagganathpurara,   Pennagonda,  Vodal 
and  Mallaishwaram. 

3  Two  infants  were  baptized  and  eighty-six  communed  at  this  time. 


BETTER    ADMINISTRATION    (1883-85)  221 

to  Salur  to  pay  a  visit  to  Missionaries  Pohl  and  Bothmann 
of  the  Breklum  Mission.  Returning  by  way  of  Vizagapatam, 
he  got  back  to  Rajahmundry  with  his  family  on  June  i4th, 
in  time  to  reopen  the  schools  after  the  summer  vacation. 
Speaking  of  the  High  School  he  wrote:  "The  High  School  is  a 
great  and  acknowledged  success,  and  we  will  have  no  more 
trouble  hereafter  about  the  higher  education  of  our  most 
promising  Christian  boys.  I  hope  the  Committee  will  not 
hesitate  in  giving  their  full  sanction  to  such  an  important  and 
indispensable  branch  of  mission  work." 

On  July  ist  Artman  wrote  the  following  report:  "To-day 
a  new  venture  was  commenced  in  the  shape  of  a  Mission  Mo- 
hammedan Girls'  School.  This  is  the  first  time  that  such  a 
school  has  been  attempted  here,  but  we  have  every  reason 
to  hope  for  success.  The  great  thing  needed  now  is  a  lady 
who  will  be  able  to  devote  her  whole  time  to  such  schools  and 
to  zenana  work,  as  the  unmarried  ladies  of  other  Missions  do." 
The  Mohammedan  Girls'  School  was  held  in  the  same  build- 
ing as  the  Mohammedan  Boys'  School,  which  was  divided  by  a 
bamboo  mat,  used  as  a  partition.  A  Mohammedan  woman 
was  engaged  to  teach  Hindustani,  a  few  primary  branches  were 
taught  by  J.  William  Henry's  wife,  and  another  Christian 
woman  taught  the  girls  to  sew. 

Artman  undertook  to  raise  enough  money  to  support  the 
Mohammedan  schools  without  expense  to  the  Mission. 
From  interested  friends  he  succeeded  in  getting  about  n 
rupees  a  month  for  the  boys'  school  and  7  rupees  and  7  annas 
a  month  for  the  girls'  school.  Moreover,  the  municipality 
of  Rajahmundry  offered  a  grant  of  Rs.  400  a  year  for  these 
schools,  which  were  estimated  to  cost  approximately  Rs.  70 
a  month.  They  failed  to  succeed  but  proved,  nevertheless, 
to  be  an  interesting  venture. 

The  annual  reports  of  the  missionary,  submitted  on  July 
i,  1884,  showed  good  progress  everywhere,  especially  in  the 
Velpur  district.  The  Rajahmundry  district  reported  170 
Christians,  93  communicants,  47  inquirers  and  25  baptisms 
for  the  year;  the  Tallapudi  district,  162  Christians,  87  com- 
municants, 44  inquirers  and  15  baptisms;  the  Jegurupad  dis- 


222       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

trict,  218  Christians,  in  communicants  and  34  inquirers; 
the  Samulkot  district,  195  Christians;  the  Velpur  district, 
360  communicants. 

The  receipts  in  India  during  the  fiscal  year,  from  July  8, 
1883  to  July  8,  1884,  showed  a  number  of  interesting  items. 
English  residents  contributed  $i  1 1 .50,  and  Mr.  T.  Van  Stavern 
$171.68  in  addition  for  Dowlaishwaram  schools.  From  the 
sale  of  bricks  made  by  Christians  $67.85  were  realized, 
and  $40.44  from  rents.  The  expenditures  were  as  follows: 
Salaries  of  missionaries,  $3700;  of  native  agents,  $1854.89; 
for  boarding  schools,  $920.05;  new  buildings  and  repairs, 
$1422.99;  miscellaneous,  $632.52;  a  total  expenditure  of 

$8530.45- 

Under  Artman's  zealous  leadership  the  Mission  was  forging 

ahead  rapidly,  when  suddenly  he  fell,  stricken  with  fever,  a 
severe  loss  to  the  work  in  India  and  to  the  cause  in  America. 
He  had  reopened  all  the  Rajahmundry  schools  for  the  work 
of  the  second  half  of  the  year  1884,  the  Boys'  High  School 
with  an  enrollment  of  over  two  hundred  pupils,  and  then  left 
early  in  September  for  a  short  visit  to  the  Tallapudi  district 
of  which  he  had  charge.  On  his  return  he  had  an  attack  of 
fever,  which  he  treated  lightly  as  his  "annual  fever/'  for  it 
seems  that  since  his  trip  to  Bastar  he  had  suffered  about  once 
a  year  from  this  illness.  This  time,  however,  the  symptoms 
became  alarming.  Dietrich  and  Poulsen  were  called  to  his 
bedside  and  found  him  delirious.  In  this  condition  he  re- 
mained until,  on  September  18,  1884,  his  spirit  returned  to 
God  who  gave  it.  He  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven  years, 
having  been  in  India  less  than  four  years;  but  the  impression 
which  he  made  upon  the  community  remained  for  many  years 
and  still  remains.  Poulsen  wrote:  "Our  Mission,  according 
to  our  short-sightedness,  has  sustained  an  irreparable  loss. 
He  had  his  heart  fully  set  on  his  work.  He  had  a  very  good 
knowledge  of  Telugu  and  was  always  willing  to  work  and 
co-operate  with  us  all.  He  really  undertook  too  much  and 
overworked  himself."  In  America  a  memorial  service  was 
held  on  November  5th,  in  St.  Mark's  Church,  Philadelphia, 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Laird,  D.  D.,  pastor.  The  Father  Heyer 


BETTER    ADMINISTRATION    (1883-85)  223 

Missionary  Society  of  the  Lutheran  Theological  Seminary  at 
Philadelphia,  which  he  had  helped  to  organize,  passed  resolu- 
tions of  respect,  and  money  began  to  be  raised  for  the  build- 
ing of  a  missionary's  dwelling  or  bungalow  at  Dowlaish- 
waram  as  an  Artman  memorial. 

Just  one  month  after  Artman's  death  the  eighth  foreign 
missionary  of  the  General  Council  began  his  labors  at  Rajah- 
mundry.  The  Rev.  Frederick  James  McCready,  a  Eurasian 
by  birth,  had  been  sent  to  America  by  Artman  to  prepare 
for  the  holy  ministry.  He  took  the  regular  three  years' 
course  at  the  Lutheran  Theological  Seminary  in  Philadelphia, 
was  graduated  in  1884,  and  was  ordained  on  June  loth,  that 
year,  at  the  convention  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium 
in  Trinity  Church,  Reading,  Pa.  Five  days  afterward  he 
was  commissioned  at  a  solemn  service  in  the  Church  of  the 
Transfiguration,  Pottstown,  Pa.,  of  which  the  English  secre- 
tary of  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee,  the  Rev.  B.  M. 
Schmucker,  D.  D.,  was  then  the  pastor.  He  sailed  from  New 
York  on  August  pth,  and  reached  Rajahmundry  on  October 
icth.  Dietrich,  who  was  given  charge  of  the  Mission  with 
the  exception  of  the  Samulkot  district,  needed  McCready's 
assistance  in  the  educational  work  at  Rajahmundry,  and  so 
the  latter  at  once  began  to  teach,  daily  giving  three  hours  in 
Luther's  Catechism,  Church  History  and  Bible  Study  in 
Telugu,  and  one  hour  in  English  in  the  Boys'  Boarding 
School.  McCready  also  preached  Telugu  in  St.  Paul's, 
Rajahmundry  and  in  Dowlaishwaram. 

After  her  husband's  death  Mrs.  Artman  was  requested  by 
the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  to  remain  at  Rajahmundry 
and  superintend  the  Girls'  schools  and  the  zenana  work. 
The  Committee  agreed  to  pay  her  $600  a  year  as  a  salary 
and  give  her  the  use  of  the  "Riverdale"  bungalow  until  the 
Schmidts  returned.  Mrs.  Artman  accepted  the  offer  and 
thus  became  the  first  salaried  woman  missionary  of  the  Gen- 
eral Council  in  India. 

Poulsen  had  begun  a  boys'  boarding  school  at  Samulkot 
early  in  the  year,  because  he  could  not  get  the  teachers  he 
needed  from  the  school  in  Rajahmundry.  Those  who  were 


224   THE  TELUGU  MISSION  OF  THE  GENERAL  COUNCIL 

graduated  from  that  school,  having  been  sent  in  from  other 
districts,  were  not  willing  to  be  assigned  positions  in  the 
Samulkot  district;  and  the  boys  who  attended  school  in  the 
Samulkot  district  were  not  allowed  by  their  parents  to  go  as 
far  away  as  Rajahmundry  for  further  training.  Nine  boys 
and  two  girls  were  attending  Poulsen's  boarding  school  at  the 
close  of  the  year.  On  September  yth  a  new  school  and 
prayer-house,  located  in  the  Mala  section  of  Samulkot  and 
costing  $235,  was  consecrated.  Mrs.  Poulsen  did  a  little 
zenana  work  in  Samulkot  and  taught  the  boarding  pupils  to 
sew;  but  her  duties  in  her  home  prevented  her  from  doing 
any  regular  mission  work. 

The  success  of  Pastor  Paulus  in  the  Velpur  district,  where 
at  the  close  of  1884,  he  had  raised  the  number  of  Christians 
to  nine  hundred,  had  aroused  the  antagonism  of  a  certain 
native  society,  calling  itself  the  "Rama  dandu."  "On  the 
Sunday  after  Christmas,  1884,"  wrote  Paulus,  "while  we  were 
making  preparations  for  our  morning  service  in  Velpur,  cer- 
tain enemies  of  Christianity,  mischievous  devotees  of  Hindu- 
ism, amounting  to  nearly  two  hundred  in  number,  came  all 
of  a  sudden  and  fell  upon  me.  I  frightened  them  away  some- 
how and  escaped  their  hands  by  the  grace  of  God.  The  con- 
spirators call  themselves  the  army  of  Rama.  They  seek  to 
force  those  whom  they  meet  to  utter  the  word  "Govinda," 
which  is  one  of  the  names  of  Krishna,  their  god.  The  con- 
spirators made  every  effort  to  seize  me  and  force  me  to  join 
their  army.  They,  with  much  passion,  uprooted  the  young 
plants  and  small  trees,  and  destroyed  the  palmyra  verandah 
of  our  church.  In  the  afternoon  they  made  another  attempt 
to  reach  our  house  but  were  forced  to  go  away  by  our  friends. 
I  wrote  to  the  police  for  help  and  three  constables  were  sent. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  evening  they  made  a  third  attempt  to 
harm  us,  but  the  constables  and  some  Hindu  friends  prevented 
them.  They  are  troubling  our  Christians  everywhere  and 
doing  all  sorts  of  mischief.  In  one  village  they  burned  the 
Bible  and  some  school-books  at  night  and  also  destroyed 
the  schoolhouse.  In  another  village  they  destroyed  some  of 
the  houses  of  Christians." 


BETTER   ADMINISTRATION    (1883-85)  225 

Pastor  Joseph  in  the  Jegurupad  district l  also  had  enemies 
with  whom  he  was  forced  to  contend.  "For  two  or  three 
years,"  he  wrote,  "the  Canadian  Baptists  from  Coconada 
have  been  against  my  work.  They  try  their  best  to  come  into 
my  villages.  I  know  that  the  Gospel  should  be  preached  to 
sinners  by  the  children  of  God  from  different  Missions,  but 
I  guess  the  Baptists  forget  that  every  child  of  God  must 
serve  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  holiness.  In  a  number 
of  villages  the  Gospel  is  not  yet  preached.  They  may  go 
and  preach  it  there.  I  have  sustained  a  great  loss  by  the 
Baptists." 

During  the  summer  and  fall  of  1884,  the  Rev.  and  Mrs.  H. 
C.  Schmidt  were  doing  deputation  work  in  America,  stirring 
up  a  deeper  and  more  extensive  foreign  mission  interest.  In 
consultation  with  Schmidt  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee 
prepared  the  first  Rules  and  Regulations  of  the  Telugu  Mis- 
sion, adopted  February  23,  1885,  and  subsequently  approved 
by  the  Mission.  Moved  by  an  appeal  from  Mrs.  Schmidt,  the 
Junior  Missionary  Society  of  Holy  Trinity  Church,  Lancaster, 
Pa.,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Greenwald  pastor,  contributed  $400  for  a 
mission  printing-press  and  type,  and,  beginning  with  the 
year  1885,  the  women's  missionary  societies  of  St.  John's 
and  St.  Mark's  churches,  Philadelphia,  undertook  the  sup- 
port of  the  Riverdale  Hindu  Girls'  School,  each  contributing 
one-half,  or  $15  a  month,  for  this  purpose. 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  contributions  for  foreign  mis- 
sions during  the  year  1884  had  been  over  $3000  more  than  the 
previous  year,2  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  was  obliged 
in  December,  1884,  to  borrow  $1000  to  pay  expenses,  and  to 
issue  an  appeal  for  larger  offerings. 

Artman,  by  showing  what  could  be  accomplished  by  a 
vigorous  educational  campaign  in  the  Mission,  had  demon- 
strated the  need  of  a  missionary  for  the  educational  depart- 
ment alone.  The  Foreign  Missions  Committee  was  not  pre- 

1  At  the  end  of  the  year  1884  he  reported  250  Christians,  146  communicants 
43  inquirers,  8  schools  and  91  pupils. 

2  The  "Missionsbote"  accounts  continued  to  show  good  balances  which  were 
turned  into  the  General  Fund,  while  the  accounts  of  "The  Foreign  Missionary" 
showed  deficits  which  had  to  be  met  from  the  General  Fund. 


226       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

pared  to  endorse  and  authorize  the  entire  educational  program 
which  Artman  had  outlined  and  to  some  degree  carried  into 
effect,  holding  that  chief  stress  should  be  laid  on  the  evan- 
gelistic and  pastoral  work,  and  that  the  educational  depart- 
ment should  be  conducted  with  the  special  view  of  training 
native  Christian  workers,  teachers,  catechists  and  pastors. 
The  maintenance  of  schools  of  a  higher  grade,  which  were 
patronized  by  the  non- Christian  portion  of  the  population 
and  which  had  a  staff  of  non-Christian  teachers,  was  not 
regarded  with  favor.  Some  one,  however,  had  to  be  secured 
to  follow  up  the  work  which  Artman  had  so  successfully 
inaugurated.  While  Schmidt  was  on  furlough  in  America 
he  had  suggested  the  name  of  William  Groenning,  a  son  of 
the  Rev.  C.  W.  Groenning,  then  the  Inspector  of  the  Brek- 
lum  Society.  He  was  authorized  to  confer  with  him  and,  if 
he  were  willing  to  go  to  Rajahmundry,  to  extend  a  regular 
and  formal  call  in  the  name  of  the  Committee.  Schmidt  did 
so,  and  the  call  was  officially  ratified  by  the  Committee  on 
January  26,  1885. 

At  the  Annual  Conference  of  missionaries,  native  agents 
and  representatives  of  congregations,1  held  January  5  to  6, 
1885,  the  Rev.  I.  K.  Poulsen  was  re-elected  president ;  the  Rev. 
F.  S.  Dietrich,  English  secretary;  and  C.  James,  Telugu 
secretary.  Dietrich  had  been  appointed  by  the  Foreign 
Missions  Committee  to  succeed  Artman  as  the  treasurer  in 
India.  J.  William  Henry  became  the  headmaster  of  the 
Boys'  Boarding  School.  The  question  of  starting  an  indus- 
trial school  was  discussed,  and  it  was  resolved  that,  while 
such  a  school  might  be  of  value  to  the  Mission,  the  men 
and  means  needed  to  conduct  it  were  lacking.  The  native 
agents  had  neglected  voluntarily  to  pay  4  pice  for  every 
rupee  of  salary  received  during  the  year;  but  the  Confer- 
ence insisted  on  the  payment  and  the  dues  were  then  and 
there  collected.  It  was  resolved  to  devote  the  money  thus 
raised  to  pay  the  salary  of  a  catechist  or  evangelist  in  the 

1  Five  Jay-delegates  were  received  as  members  of  this  Conference,  namely, 
A.  Abraham,  of  Mahadevipatnam;  P.  Samuel,  of  Gorlamudi;  V.  Daniel,  of 
Mallaishwaram;  Abraham,  of  Korrapadu,  and  Kokiri  Guriah,  of  Ragampetta. 


BETTER   ADMINISTRATION    (1883-85)  227 

"fever  district."1  Thus  the  so-called  "Rampa  Fund"  was 
established.  Four  graduates  of  the  Normal  Department  of 
the  Boys'  Boarding  School2  and  seven  married  men  who 
had  been  boarding  pupils  were  given  work  as  teachers.  It 
was  resolved  that  "as  there  was  no  longer  so  great  an  ur- 
gency in  sending  out  teachers,  no  more  married  men  should 
be  entered  in  the  school  as  boarders,  except  in  very  special 
cases."  The  number  of  boarding  boys  in  January,  1885,  was 
67;  of  boarding  girls,  23;  and  31  day-pupils  were  enrolled  in 
the  Anglo- vernacular  school  in  which  McCready  had  been 
teaching  seventeen  hours  a  week.  The  Conference  decided, 
however,  that  McCready  could  best  be  used  in  the  district 
work,  and  he  was  assigned  to  the  Tallapudi  district  and 
authorized  to  begin  at  once  the  erection  of  a  bungalow  in 
the  town  of  Tallapudi. 

Among  the  incidents  of  the  year  especially  reported  by  the 
Conference  was  the  conversion  of  a  young  caste-man,  a  former 
pupil  in  the  High  School,  Vungara  Sriramulu,  the  son  of  a 
pensioned  government  official,  belonging  to  the  weaver  caste, 
who,  though  his  relatives  alternately  threatened  him  and 
pleaded  with  him,  nevertheless  remained  firm  in  his  allegiance 
to  Christianity.  After  serving  for  some  time  as  a  teacher 
in  the  Hindu  Girls'  School,  he  assisted  McCready  as  an  evan- 
gelist in  the  Tallapudi  district.3 

1  The  "fever  district"  was  redefined  as  extending  from  the  Godavery  to  the 
Zellam  River,  above  a  line  drawn  from  Polavaram  through  Gokavaram  to 
Yellaishwaram. 

2  The  regular  graduates  that  year  were:  A.  Isaac,  P.  Caleb,  B.  Gnananan- 
dam  and  P.  David.    The  married  men  were:  P.  Samuel,  Daniel,  P.  Benjamin, 
K.  Philip,  V.  Samuel,  K.  Venkataswami  and  G.  John. 

3  "This  young  man,"  wrote  McCready,  on  April  2,  1885,  "spent  last  Satur- 
day with  me  and  toward  evening  expressed  his  willingness  to  take  up  his  cross 
and  follow  Christ,  braving  all  the  trials  such  persons  become  subject  to  on  em- 
bracing Christianity.    I  communicated  his  wish  to  Rev.  Poulsen  who  was  here 
at  the  time  on  a  visit.    We  decided  to  act  at  once.    While  I  was  away  seeking 
the  assistance  of  the  police  to  protect  him,  Mr.  Poulsen,  in  the  presence  of  a  few 
Christians,  baptized  him  in  my  study  in  Riverdale  bungalow.    Two  policemen 
were  ordered  to  guard  our  house  and  prevent  any  disturbance.    We  were  per- 
mitted to  rest  in  peace  that  night.    The  news  did  not  spread  and  his  relatives 
did  not  know  of  his  conversion  until  he  informed  them  by  letter.  ...  At 
length,  in  the  company  of  a  policeman,  we  visited  his  father's  house.    The  object 
of  this  visit  was  to  seek  a  public  interview  with  his  wife.     She  refused  to  ac- 
company him,  being  under  the  influence  of  her  parents.    His  child  they  would 
not  give  up.    Having  satisfied  ourselves  that  she  would  not  for  the  present  join 


228       THE    TELUGU   MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

After  the  death  of  their  baby,  born  shortly  before  the  death 
of  Artraan,  Mrs.  Artman  decided  to  return  to  America.  She 
wrote:  "It  is  with  much  sorrow  that  I  leave  India  and  the 
work  here,  for  it  has  been  a  happy  home  to  me  for  more  than 
four  years.  It  is  painful  to  leave  when  I  think  that  I  must  go 
when  laborers  are  so  much  needed.  After  much  prayer, 
however,  this  seems  the  only  way,  and  all  the  missionaries 
agree  with  me."  She  left  Madras  with  her  two  remaining 
children  on  May  4th,  and  arrived  in  Philadelphia  on  June  25, 
1885. 

The  furlough  of  the  Schmidts  lasted  over  two  years.  On 
August  9,  1885,  they  were  back  in  Rajalimundry,  having  left 
their  daughter,  Dagmar,  in  Denmark  to  receive  her  educa- 
tion. Eleven  days  after  their  arrival  Captain  C.  Taylor,  a 
consistent  friend  of  the  Mission,  who  every  year  contributed 
toward  its  support,  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  nearly  eighty 


us,  we  returned  home.  Some  days  thereafter  Sriramulu's  brother  who  made 
believe  he  was  working  in  our  behalf,  came  and  begged  that  our  convert  be  al- 
lowed to  go  home  and  intercede  with  his  wife.  Rev.  Poulsen  and  I  accompanied 
him,  not  suspecting  anything.  We  were  treated  cordially,  the  father  especially 
being  very  respectful.  An  hour  passed  away  in  conversation.  We  then  hinted 
that  it  was  time  to  take  leave.  Word  was  sent  to  the  back  part  of  the  house 
where  Sriramulu  was  talking  to  his  wife  and  mother.  We  were  told  that  if  we 
were  in  a  hurry  we  should  not  wait  for  him;  he  would  follow  us  at  3  o'clock.  We 
were  alarmed  by  this  announcement.  In  the  meantime  the  courtyard  of  the 
house  was  being  thronged  by  men.  The  truth  dawned  on  us  that  he  was  in 
danger.  We  had  fallen  into  a  trap.  I  immediately  ran  in  the  direction  in  which 
the  crowd  was  moving.  They  crowded  around  the  door  at  the  back  of  the 
house.  I  pushed  my  way  through  and  reached  the  door.  A  large  padlock  was 
on  it.  Sriramulu  was  locked  in.  I  lifted  the  Venetian  blinds  and  could  dis- 
cern a  figure  sitting  with  several  females  embracing  him.  I  called  his  name. 
He  answered  me.  I  asked  him  if  he  were  there  of  his  own  choice,  and  if  he  wished 
to  remain.  He  answered  in  English:  'I  am  a  prisoner;  my  wife  and  others 
have  hold  of  me.  I  wish  to  be  free  to  follow  you.'  The  question  was  asked 
several  times  and  he  always  answered  the  same.  Mr.  Poulsen  went  for  the 
police.  I  remained  behind.  As  soon  as  he  left  the  mob  turned  on  me  and  with 
anger  in  their  eyes  ordered  me  to  leave  the  premises.  I  declined  to  do  so  until 
requested  by  the  master  of  the  house.  He  befriended  me,  quieted  the  mob  and, 
rising  from  his  sick-bed,  begged  that  if  Sriramulu  wished  to  go,  he  should  be 
set  free.  They  would  not  hear  him.  The  trial  was  a  hard  one  for  Sriramulu, 
but  the  pleadings  of  wife,  mother,  brother  and  friends  could  not  change  him. 
They  wept,  promised,  threatened;  but  all  endeavors  to  keep  him  from  Christ 
were  futile.  I  thank  God  for  the  strength  given  him  during  these  hours  of  trial. 
He  was  released.  The  crowd  followed  us  with  hisses  and  curses.  This  man  in 
taking  up  his  cross  gave  up  all  dear  ones,  friends,  property,  worldly  standing, 
everything,  and  followed  Christ.  At  his  request  I  cut  his  hair  short  or,  rather  , 
removed  the  Hindu  top-knot." 


RELIGIOUS   BATHING   IN   THE   GODAVERY   RIVER 

The   Godavery   is   one   of   the   twelve   sacred   streams   of   India.      Every   twelve   years, 

therefore,  multitudes  from  all  parts  of  India  come  to  bathe  in   its  waters  to 

wash  away  their  guilt.     The  festival   of  bathing   is   called   Pushkaram. 


THE  BRIDGE  OVER  THE  GODAVERY   RIVER  AT   RAJAHMUNDRY 

There    are    fifty-five    solid    masonry    piers,    fifty-six    spans    of    steel    girders, 
forming   a   bridge   a   mile   and   a    half    long. 


LOADING   A   RADARI    I5OAT   WITH    RICE   BAGS 


A   CONGREGATION    OF   TELUGU    CHRISTIANS 

These  people  are  Malas  or  outcasts,  who  constitute  the  majority  of  the  membership  of 

our   mission    congregations.     Notice    the    thatch-roofed    prayer 

house   in    which    they    worship. 


BETTER    ADMINISTRATION    (1883-85)  2 29 

years,  having  lived  in  India  without  interruption  for  sixty 
years. 

After  the  return  of  Schmidt  the  Mission  was  redistricted. 
Schmidt  took  charge  of  the  work  in  Rajahmundry  except  the 
schools,  which  were  given  to  Dietrich,  who  also  preached  at 
Dowlaishwaram.  The  Velpur  district,  with  N.  Paulus  as 
pastor  in  charge,  was  placed  under  the  general  oversight  of 
Schmidt;  the  Jegurupad  district,  with  Pastor  Joseph  in  charge, 
under  the  general  oversight  of  Dietrich.  McCready  took  the 
Tallapudi  district  and  Poulsen  the  Samulkot  district. 

Dietrich  did  good  work  at  Dowlaishwaram.  He  preached 
there  every  Sunday  or  sent  a  catechist  as  his  substitute.  The 
congregation,  at  the  close  of  the  year  1885,  numbered  eighteen 
communicant  members,  and  during  the  year  eleven  persons 
had  been  baptized.  The  school  enrolled  thirty  pupils.  Luth- 
er's Small  Catechism,  reading,  writing,  arithmetic  and  singing 
were  taught,  the  older  and  more  advanced  pupils  receiving 
some  instruction  also  in  geography  and  history.  Evangelistic 
work  was  done  during  the  week  in  the  Mala  section  of  the 
town. 

While  in  the  other  districts  the  majority  of  the  converts 
were  Malas,  those  in  the  Tallapudi  district  were  mostly 
Madigas.  "To  the  pariahs,  the  Chucklers,"  wrote  McCready, 
"and  other  people  of  low  caste  and  no  caste  the  Gospel  is  a 
welcome  message.  They  are  simple  and  uneducated  people. 
The  women  join  the  men  in  the  audiences.  Most,  if  not  all, 
of  the  converts  come  from  these  classes,  hence  we  work 
chiefly  among  them.  Few  Christians  in  the  Tallapudi  dis- 
trict are  Malas.  We  have  Mala  Christians  only  in  two  vil- 
lages. This  is  to  be  accounted  for  in  this  way:  When  Chris- 
tianity first  enters  a  place,  should  those  who  first  embrace  it 
be  of  the  Mala  caste,  which  is  one  of  the  lowest  castes,  others  still 
lower  will  join  us;  but  should  the  first  converts  be  Chucklers, 
the  Malas  keep  aloof."  Concerning  the  character  of  the  new 
converts  he  wrote:  "It  is  a  sad  fact  that  there  is  a  lack  of 
piety  among  the  people.  In  the  hour  of  trial  they  are  weak. 
When  temptations  come  they  surrender  without  a  struggle. 
Many  bad  habits,  such  as  drinking,  falsehood,  getting  into 


230       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

debt,  spending  their  earnings  thoughtlessly  and  uncleanness 
in  their  personal  and  household  life,  are  common.  Having 
abandoned  heathenism  they  have  left  much  behind  them  as 
overcome,  but  much  still  remains  to  be  conquered."  Mc- 
Cready  followed  the  practice  in  the  Mission  not  to  baptize 
an  adult  until  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Creed  and  the 
Lord's  Prayer  had  been  learned.  "Many  in  their  old  age," 
he  said,  "learn  some  hymns.  The  young  people  can  sing  the 
'Gloria  in  Excelsis.'  The  order  of  the  service  has  become 
very  familiar  to  them.  The  services,  consequently,  grow 
more  interesting  to  them  and  more  orderly."  He  introduced  a 
Sunday  school  at  Tallapudi,  induced  the  Christians  to  give  a 
day's  wages  every  year  for  the  building  fund  of  the  Christian 
Inn  proposed  for  Rajahmundry,  and  encouraged  the  children 
to  spend  their  Saturdays  at  work  earning  something  for  the 
Mission.  Every  Monday,  being  market  day,  he  and  his  cate- 
chist  or  a  teacher  preached  in  the  market-place.  Thirty-one 
persons  were  baptized  during  1885,  raising  the  total  number  of 
Christians  in  the  district  to  172,  of  whom  68  were  communi- 
cants.1 

In  St.  Paul's,  Rajahmundry,  Schmidt  preached  Telugu, 
assisted  by  P.  V.  Ratnam  and  C.  James.  The  English  ser- 
vices and  Sunday  school  were  discontinued.  An  unsuccessful 
attempt  was  made  to  introduce  a  church  council  or  Panchayet. 
The  time  for  self-government  had  not  yet  come.  The  number 
of  communicants  at  the  close  of  the  year  1885  was  94.  An 
evangelist  was  engaged  for  the  district  north  of  Rajah- 
mundry, called  the  Korukonda  district.  In  the  Velpur,  Jegu- 
rupad  and  Samulkot  districts  the  work  was  slowly  progress- 
ing, the  number  of  communicants  at  the  close  of  the  year  being 
respectively  325,  117  and  37.2  The  total  number  of  baptisms 
in  all  districts  during  the  year  was  311;  the  total  number  of 

1  In  the  largest  congregation,  Tallapudi,  there  were  46  Christians  and  20 
communicants;  in  Peddahem,  33  Christians;  in  Nandamur,  14  Christians;  in 
Tutigunta,  18  Christians,  and  in  Guddigudem,  35  Christians.  In  five  village 
schools  29  pupils  were  enrolled. 

*  Pastor  Paulus  reported  211  baptisms  for  the  year,  40  villages  in  which 
Christians  resided  and  about  300  pupils  in  school.  Pastor  Joseph  reported  16 
villages,  289  Christians  and  68  pupils  in  eight  schools.  Rev.  I.  K.  Poulsen 
reported  25  baptisms,  147  Christians,  84  pupils  and  13  teachers. 


BETTER    ADMINISTRATION    (1883-85)  231 

baptisms  in  the  Mission  from  January  i,  1880,  to  December  31, 
1885,  was  reported  to  have  been  1705. 

The  report  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  to  the 
Eighteenth  Convention  of  the  General  Council,  held  in  Phila- 
delphia, October  15-21,  1885,  included  the  recommendation 
that  for  the  better  government  of  the  Mission  the  Rules  and 
Regulations,  after  their  adoption  by  the  General  Council, 
should  go  into  effect  on  January  i,  1886.  Another  recom- 
mendation was  that  more  laymen  be  added  to  the  Committee. 
"There  would  be  a  great  gam  to  the  work  entrusted  to  us,"  is 
the  language  used,  "if  we  were  given  the  presence,  counsel, 
practical  tact  and  hearty  interest  of  a  number  of  prudent, 
devoted,  earnest  laymen.  There  are  now  but  three  laymen 
on  the  Committee,  and  even  these  are  scarcely  ever  able  to 
attend.  Would  it  not  be  well  to  seek  out  men  of  the  kind 
desired,  who  have  such  command  of  their  time  as  to  enable 
them  to  give  one  day  each  month  to  this  work?"  As  a  con- 
sequence the  Committee  was  given  power  to  add  six  laymen 
to  its  membership.  The  former  committee  was  reappointed, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Laird,  D.  D.,  who  was 
succeeded  by  the  Rev.  E.  E.  Sibole,  D.  D.  The  Rev.  F. 
Wischan  was  elected  the  Committee's  German  secretary  in  the 
place  of  the  Rev.  H.  Grahn.  Otherwise  the  officers  remained 
the  same. 

Under  the  head  of  "missionary  organizations  in  the  con- 
gregations" the  Committee  sanely  remarked:  "The  General 
Council  has  expressed  its  conviction  that  the  Church,  as  an 
individual  congregation  or  as  a  combination  of  congregations, 
is  the  proper  agency  through  which  the  mission  work  should 
be  done,  enlarged  and  directed;  but  within  the  congregation 
it  is  often  found  of  great  advantage  that  the  mission  work 
should  engage  the  special  attention  of  organizations.  Some- 
times the  Sunday  school  takes  up  the  work;  sometimes  mis- 
sionary societies  are  formed.  Sometimes  these  associations 
are  of  young  people;  sometimes  of  women;  sometimes  all 
kinds  may  be  found.  The  congregations  which  have  shown 
the  greatest  interest  in  missions  and  wherein  that  interest  has  en- 
dured longest  and  been  most  constant,  have  such  associations." 


232       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

A  large  part  of  the  Committee's  report  was  devoted  to  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  educational  work  of  the  Mission,  especially  to 
the  Committee's  attitude  toward  the  Hindu  High  School 
organized  by  Artman.  The  Committee  had  requested  him  to 
furnish  full  information  concerning  it,  but  before  he  could 
comply  death  had  claimed  him.  Then,  in  November,  1884, 
the  Committee  had  resolved  to  abandon  the  enterprise.  The 
missionaries  were  forbidden  to  teach  in  this  school  and  were 
directed  to  send  such  Christian  boys  as  were  capable  of  higher 
education  to  the  Government  High  School  at  Rajahmundry. 
The  thorough  and  careful  training  of  native  workers  in 
Biblical  knowledge  was  emphasized.  All  the  missionaries, 
however,  except  Poulsen  urged  that  the  Mission  High  School 
be  continued.  The  Committee  then  advanced  four  reasons 
for  abandoning  it:  "i.  We  have  not  a  sufficient  force  of  men 
at  Rajahmundry  to  allow  that  their  time  should  be  occupied 
with  this  work.  2.  It  is  not  desirable  to  maintain  a  school 
in  which  the  whole  staff  of  teachers  is  non-Christian."  "If 
the  Christian  influence  of  the  school  were  the  controlling 
one,"  said  the  Committee,  "our  views  might  be  different; 
but  with  only  one  hour  a  day  given  to  it  by  a  mission- 
ary, while  the  corps  of  teachers  is  heathen,  we  feel  very 
doubtful  of  the  Christian  influence  of  the  school."  3.  The 
maintenance  of  such  a  High  School,  it  was  claimed,  would 
place  the  Mission  in  opposition  to  the  Government  school, 
and  array  the  English  officials  and  their  influence  against  the 
Mission.  4.  The  school  threatened  to  become  an  expensive 
undertaking.  "Instead  of  being  self-supporting,  as  Mr.  Art- 
man first  believed  it  would,  it  cost,  beyond  its  receipts  for  the 
first  year,  $500,  although  occupying  our  mission  house  gratis." 

Considerable  correspondence  passed  between  the  Mission 
and  the  Committee  concerning  this  school.  Dietrich  and 
McCready  wrote  long  letters.  They  asserted  that  the  school 
was  a  necessity,  that  no  successful  Mission  was  without  such  a 
school,  and  that  it  was  the  only  agency  by  which  Brahmins 
and  high  castes  could  be  reached  and  influenced.  Before 
reaching  a  final  decision  the  Committee,  in  September,  1885, 
passed  the  following  resolutions: 


BETTER   ADMINISTRATION    (1883-85)  233 

"Resolved,  i.  That  as  the  care  of  the  schools  at  Rajah- 
mundry  has  been  assigned  to  Rev.  Mr.  Groenning,  he  be 
requested  very  carefully  to  examine  into  the  whole  school 
system  at  Rajahmundry,  and,  after  full  consultation  with  the 
other  missionaries,  propose  a  plan  for  the  school  system  in  all 
branches,  but  especially  with  reference  to  the  Hindu  High 
School,  the  Mohammedan  Schools  and  the  Caste  Girls' 
School,  and  their  relation  to  the  Mission. 

" 2.  That  this  plan  when  prepared  shall  be  submitted  to  the 
Mission  Council,  and,  after  full  consideration,  an  opportunity 
be  given  the  several  missionaries  to  send  their  views  to  the 
Committee. 

"3.  That  until  the  submission  of  such  a  plan  and  action  on 
it  by  the  Committee,  the  missionaries  may  continue  to  give 
religious  instruction  in  both  the  Hindu  High  School  and  the 
Mohammedan  School,  and  that  the  High  School  may  occupy 
the  mission  house  in  which  it  is  now  located,  unless  it  should 
be  needed  for  the  use  of  our  missionaries;  but  that  no  other 
expense  of  these  schools  be  borne  by  our  treasury." 

The  financial  argument  of  the  Committee  was  all  the  more 
emphatic  because  the  Committee  was  forced  in  December, 
1885,  to  make  a  special  appeal  for  contributions  to  wipe  out 
an  accumulated  indebtedness  of  $2500. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  HOME-CHURCH  LAGS   (1886-87) 

DURING  1886  and  1887  five  ordained  missionaries  were  at 
work  in  the  Mission,  each  one  busily  engaged  in  his  district 
or  department,  and  steady  progress  was  made;  but  the 
Church  at  home  lagged  behind  in  its  support  of  the  Mission. 

The  Rev.  William  Groenning  was  the  ninth  foreign  mis- 
sionary of  the  General  Council.  He  was  born  September  29, 
1852,  at  Guntur,  Madras  Presidency,  India,  where  his  father, 
the  Rev.  Charles  William  Groenning,  was  then  stationed  as 
a  missionary  of  The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Gen- 
eral Synod.  When  he  was  six  years  old  William,  with  his  two 
younger  brothers,  was  taken  by  his  parents  to  Europe  to  be 
educated.  He  was  left  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Dierks,  a  teacher 
in  Gross-Borstel,  near  Hamburg.  At  the  age  of  eleven  his 
uncle,  Mr.  Nagel  of  Hamburg,  took  him  into  his  home  and 
sent  him  to  a  private  school.  When  his  parents  returned 
from  India,  having  permanently  given  up  the  missionary 
life,  the  whole  family  was  reunited  and  lived  for  a  while  in 
Hadersleben,  North  Schleswig,  where  William  attended  the 
gymnasium.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  entered  the  Uni- 
versity, studying  in  turn  at  Leipsic,  Erlangen  and  Kiel.  At 
Erlangen  he  spent  a  year  in  military  service  in  the  Sixth 
Bavarian  battalion.  He  took  a  special  course  in  theology  at 
the  North  Schleswig-Danish  Theological  Seminary  at  Haders- 
leben. After  serving  as  an  assistant  to  Inspector  Hoeber  of  the 
newly  established  Breklum  Mission  Institute,  he  was  chosen 
to  succeed  the  latter  after  his  death  in  March,  1879.  On 
August  6,  1880,  he  married  Caroline,  daughter  of  Valen- 
tine L.  Meyer,  a  merchant  of  Hamburg.  Called  by  the 
Foreign  Missions  Committee  of  the  General  Council  to  enter 
its  service  as  a  missionary  in  its  Telugu  field  in  India,  January 
26,  1885,  he  accepted  the  call  and  left  Breklum  on  April  ist 
to  spend  six  months  in  Berlin  in  the  study  of  medicine  and 

234 


THE    HOME-CHURCH    LAGS    (1886-87)  235 

pharmacy,  having  been  advised  that  some  knowledge  of  these 
sciences  would  be  useful  in  mission  work.  He  was  ordained 
on  August  23d,  in  Bruegge,  Schleswig,  by  Consistorialrath 
Claussen,  assisted  by  Pastors  Langreen  and  Selk.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Groenning  sailed  from  Liverpool,  England, 
September  26th,  and  reached  Colombo,  Ceylon,  October  28th. 
From  Madras  they  went  to  Tripaty  to  visit  the  Mission  High 
School  of  the  Hermannsburg  Mission,  and  to  Mayavaram, 
Tranquebar,  Poriar,  Tanjore,  Trichinopoly  and  Kumbakonam, 
to  study  the  educational  work  of  the  Leipsic  Mission.1  On 
December  3d  Dietrich  met  the  Groennings  at  Coconada  with 
the  "Dove  of  Peace."  Henry  who  thirty  years  before  had 
been  a  servant  in  the  household  of  the  elder  Groenning  in 
India,  who  had  carried  William  as  a  babe  in  his  arms,  and  who 
had  been  one  of  the  first  converts  of  the  elder  Groenning,  had 
insisted  on  being  one  of  the  first  ones  to  welcome  the  son  at 
Coconada,  and  was  there  to  meet  him.  A  visit  of  a  few  days 
was  paid  the  Poulsens  at  Samulkot,  both  of  whom  Groenning 
had  learned  to  know  in  Europe.  Here  and  at  Ragampetta, 
whither  Groenning  accompanied  Poulsen  and  his  catechist 
Lakshmiah,  he  got  his  first  glimpse  of  mission  work  in  our 
Mission.  Rajahmundry  was  reached  on  December  6th. 

Groenning  at  once  took  charge  of  the  Rajahmundry  Mis- 
sion school  when  it  was  reopened  on  January  15,  1886.  He 
found  it  graded  into  three  classes.  Instruction  was  given  in 
religion,  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  grammar,  geography, 
history,  music  and  drawing.  Thirty-four  boys  were  accommo- 
dated in  the  boarding  house  in  which  they  slept  on  the  floor, 
side  by  side,  "packed  like  herring  in  a  box."  Twelve  older 
boys  were  housed  in  a  shed  in  the  Riverdale  compound. 
Groenning  and  his  wife  were  entertained  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Schmidt  until  the  bungalow  in  the  compound  of  St.  Paul's 
Church  had  been  repaired.  Groenning  planned  to  add,  in  the 
course  of  time,  three  higher  grades  with  some  instruction  in 
the  main  branches  of  theology,  at  least  in  an  elementary  man- 
ner, so  as  to  make  the  institution  a  reasonably  efficient  train- 
ing-school for  native  workers.  He  did  not  include  the  Hindu 

1  The  expense  of  this  trip  was  borne  by  Groenning. 


236        THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

High  School  nor  the  Mohammedan  schools  in  his  educational 
program,  and  the  Caste  Girls'  School  remained  in  charge  of 
Mrs.  Schmidt,  assisted  by  Mrs.  Groenning,  who  also  helped 
Mrs.  Schmidt  in  the  zenana  work  in  the  munsiff's  house. 

The  Hindu  High  School  for  boys  was  continued  in  the  bun- 
galow opposite  the  church  compound  to  the  close  of  the  year 
1886,  when  its  relation  with  the  Mission  was  severed.  It 
was  moved  to  another  part  of  the  town  and  existed  for  a  while 
as  a  private  school,  Dietrich  being  able  to  get  Rs.  700  for  it 
annually  as  a  grant  from  the  government.  In  February,  1888, 
it  was  combined  with  two  other  Rajahmundry  High  Schools, 
and  the  union  school  was  managed  by  a  board  of  trustees,  one 
of  whom  was  Dietrich,  and  another  E.  P.  Metcalf,  Esq.,  the 
principal  of  the  Government  College.  In  1893  it  became  a  part 
of  the  Government  School. 

On  February  5,  1886,  the  first  sheets  were  printed  on  the 
press  which  the  Junior  Missionary  Society  of  Holy  Trinity 
Church,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  had  sent  to  India.  They  contained 
the  Lord's  Prayer  in  Telugu,  two  boarding  pupils  having  set 
the  type  under  the  direction  of  Schmidt.  Schmidt  also  began 
the  publication  of  a  small  sheet  in  English,  called  "Rajah- 
mundry Mission  News."  Luther's  Small  Catechism  in  a 
small  form  and  "The  First  Telugu  Book"  were  published  in 
the  course  of  the  first  year. 

On  February  24,  1886,  the  Rev.  Mr.  McCready  and  Miss 
Catharine  Taylor,  a  granddaughter  of  Captain  and  Mrs.  C. 
Taylor,  were  united  in  marriage  at  Rajahmundry. 

During  the  month  of  February  Schmidt  toured  in  the  Vel- 
pur  district.  Extracts  from  his  account  of  this  tour  are  here 
given  because  they  furnish  an  insight  into  the  methods  of  dis- 
trict work.  "The  Christians  of  Vandra  have  built  a  nice 
schoolhouse  with  mud  walls  and  palmyra-leaf  roof.  Most  of 
the  Christians  of  Vissakoderu  (66)  gathered  with  us  for 
divine  service  in  the  same  place  where  we  met  in  1883.  It 
was  at  one  time  a  cattle-shed,  and  is  now  used  for  school  and 
church  purposes.  During  the  ten  days  we  stopped  at  Vissako- 
deru Paulus  and  I  visited  twelve  villages  within  a  radius  of  six 
miles.  In  some  places,  like  Gorlamudi,  the  school  is  held  in  an 


THE    HOME-CHURCH    LAGS    (1886-87)  237 

open  yard  and  divine  services  are  conducted  there.  The  huts 
of  the  Christians  are  very  small  and  have  generally  only  one 
opening  which  serves  as  a  door,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to 
conduct  services  in  them.  We  have,  therefore,  no  alternative 
and  must  frequently  conduct  divine  services  in  streets,  lanes 
and  yards.  I  have  found  it  very  awkward  under  such  circum- 
stances to  administer  the  Holy  Sacraments.  Paulus,  however, 
manages  it  very  well.  It  does  not  seem  to  disturb  him  if  a 
calf  runs  through  the  audience  or  a  bird  flies  over  our  heads. 
He  waits  quietly  until  order  is  restored.  .  .  .  No  bells  are 
rung  to  gather  the  people,  for  the  simple  reason  that  there  are 
none.  In  some  places,  like  Velpur,  the  teacher  blows  a  whistle 
a  little  while  before  service  begins.  The  people  are  generally 
lacking  in  punctuality,  and  several  opening  hymns  must  be 
sung  so  as  to  allow  the  stragglers  plenty  of  time  for  gathering. 
On  Sunday  morning  the  service  of  our  Telugu  Church  Book 
is  used.  ...  I  naturally  consented  in  every  place  to  preach 
to  the  congregation,  as  my  visit  was  a  kind  of  inspection;  but 
because  Paulus  is  the  pastor,  I  never  baptize  any  of  the  people 
in  his  field.  The  Christians  must  be  taught  that  there  is  no 
difference  between  the  office  of  a  missionary  and  that  of  a 
native  pastor,  in  spite  of  our  difference  in  nationality,  edu- 
cation and  other  respects.  .  .  .  The  natural  center  of  this  part 
of  the  country  is  Bhimawaram,  where  the  Government  is  build- 
ing a  court-house  and  where  the  native  judge  will  live.  Paulus 
is  very  anxious  to  build  a  church  for  all  the  surrounding  vil- 
lages in  this  place.  ...  As  far  back  as  1875,  some  people  of 
Gorlamudi  asked  me  for  a  teacher.  How  glad  we  now  are  to 
find  here  the  largest  congregation  in  Rev.  Paulus'  district." 

Some  effort  was  made  by  Schmidt  in  the  Korukonda  district, 
north  of  Rajahmundry.  In  March,  1886,  he  visited  a  number 
of  villages,  going  in  a  bullock  cart.  At  Balladupadu,  eighteen 
miles  north  of  Rajahmundry,  near  Korukonda,  after  staying 
a  week  he  baptized  five  persons. 

About  this  time  V.  Jacob,  a  convert  of  the  Madiga  or 
Chuckler  caste,1  passed  his  matriculation  examination  at  the 

1  Madigas  or  Chucklers  are  workers  in  leather,  shoe-makers  or  tanners,  and 
are  regarded  as  the  lowest  and  most  despised  people. 


238       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Madras  University,  probably  the  first  one  of  this  caste  in  the 
Telugu  country  to  pass.  Schmidt  said  that  he  came  to  him 
full  of  joy  and  pride,  saying,  "I  and  three  other  Brahmins 
passed  the  examination!"  "Just  as  if  his  success  entitled  him 
to  rank  with  the  Brahmins,"  was  Schmidt's  comment. 

la  Dowlaishwaram  Dietrich  started  a  separate  girls' 
school  with  Annama  as  teacher,  early  in  1886.  It  enrolled 
twenty  pupils.  During  the  first  six  months  of  the  year  he 
spent  fifty-two  days  on  tour  in  the  district. 

Most  of  McCready's  time  was  occupied  in  superintending 
the  erection  of  the  bungalow  at  Tallapudi.  He  instituted  a 
monthly  teachers'  meeting  on  the  first  Monday  of  each  month, 
hoping  thereby  to  increase  their  efficiency.  He  prepared  for 
them  in  advance  a  schedule  of  duties,  hours  and  lessons  of 
instruction,  and  of  preaching  appointments  on  Sunday  and 
during  the  week,  in  an  endeavor  to  systematize  the  work.  It 
was  almost  a  hopeless  task,  for  the  teachers  were  generally 
lazy  and  inefficient.  The  same  conditions  prevailed  in  other 
parts  of  the  field.  Dietrich  wrote:  ''The  children  are  few  in 
number,  irregular  in  attendance  and  carelessly  taught.  The 
teachers  are  indifferent.  ...  I  am  anxiously  looking  forward 
to  the  time  when  we  can  obtain  the  men  who  are  now  being 
trained  by  Rev.  Groenning."  Schmidt,  dealing  with  the  same 
subject,  said:  "There  are  many  who  wish  to  enter  mission 
employ,  but,  alas,  very  few  of  them  are  fit  for  the  work !  They 
hardly  satisfy  the  most  meagre  expectation  as  to  Scriptural 
knowledge  and  gifts  of  teaching.  Our  mission  work  constantly 
reminds  us  of  Luther's  saying,  that  we  must  plow  with  asses 
until  we  get  horses." 

Poulsen  described  the  moral  life  of  the  Telugus  in  the  follow- 
ing language:  "The  longer  I  live  among  these  people,  the  more 
corrupt  I  find  them,  especially  the  low  castes.  Here  at  Samul- 
kot  there  are  a  great  many  Malas;  but  few  live  with  their  real 
wives.  Free  love  is  in  practice  an  established  doctrine.  Those 
who  practice  it,  however,  must  pay  a  fine  of  Rs.  2  or  be  ex- 
communicated. In  the  hot  season,  when  we  come  to  a  Mala 
village  in  the  evening,  they  are  all  drunk.  Samulkot  is  known 
for  its  dancing  girls  and  its  burglars.  .  .  To  have  enough  rice 


THE   HOME-CHURCH    LAGS    (1886-87)  239 

without  working  for  it  seems  to  be  the  people's  idea  of  bliss. 
It  often  reminds  me  of  what  I  was  told  in  my  school  days;  how 
when  the  Chinese  desired  to  picture  eternal  happiness  they 
drew  a  man  with  chop-sticks  in  his  hands,  eating  rice  as  fast 
as  he  could  from  a  huge  heap  in  front  of  him.  But  when  I  see 
the  many  pretty  children,  their  innocent  and  bright  faces 
seem  to  tell  me  that  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

The  parochial  reports  at  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year,  ending 
June  3, 1886,  showed  progress  everywhere,  but  again  especially 
in  the  Velpur  district.1 

So  busy  was  Schmidt  with  the  supervision  of  repairs  on  the 
bungalow  in  the  church  compound  and  on  the  "Dove  of  Peace" 
that  he  spent  only  seven  days  on  tour  from  July  to  December, 
1886.  Referring  to  this  work  he  wrote:  "Want  of  funds  pre- 
vented me  from  engaging  experienced  workmen,  and  I  had  to 
do  much  of  the  repairing  of  the  boat  with  my  own  hands. 
It  is  especially  gratifying  to  see,  however,  how  much  of  the 
work  has  been  done  by  native  Christians,  who  thus  are  edu- 
cated for  honest  labor;  and  every  step  onward  to  civilization 
is  a  small  victory  won."  Schmidt  was  very  proud  of  his 
industrial  school.  The  Rev.  W.  P.  Schwartz  of  Guntur,  after 
a  visit  at  Rajahmundry  in  1886,  wrote  in  the  Guntur  Mission 
Journal  that  on  the  evening  of  the  first  day  in  Rajahmundry 
he  was  conducted  by  Schmidt  to  the  lime-kiln  and  brick-yard 
along  the  river  bank,  which  Schmidt  had  "established  for  the 

1  The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  reports:  Foreign  missionaries,  5;  mission- 
aries' wives,  4;  native  pastors,  2;  catechists  and  evangelists,  7;  teachers  in 
Rajahmundry,  10;  in  other  places,  46;  pupils  in  boys'  boardjng  department,  48; 
in  girls'  boarding  department,  10;  day  pupils:  boys,  33;  girls,  21;  total  pupils 
in  Rajahmundry  schools,  112;  baptized  in  1885:  Rev.  Schmidt,  6;  Poulsen,  25; 
Dietrich,  24;  McCready,  31;  N.  Paulus,  211;  T.  Joseph,  14;  total,  311.  From 
January  to  June,  1886,  457  persons  were  baptized,  of  whom  276  were  in  the  Vel- 
pur district.  The  total  number  of  Christians,  adult  and  children,  was  1901,  dis- 
tributed as  follows:  Rajahmundry  town,  194;  Korukonda  district,  12;  Dowlaish- 
waram  town,  28;  Jegurupad  district,  276;  Velpur  district,  1044;  Samulkot  dis- 
trict, 147;  Tallapudi  district,  200.  The  total  number  of  pupils  in  the  village 
schools  exclusive  of  Rajahmundry  was  587,  of  whom  325  were  in  the  Velpur 
district. 

The  receipts  in  India  for  this  fiscal  year  were  $6227.91;  the  expense,  not 
including  the  missionaries'  salaries,  $5415.77,  divided  as  follows:  Rajahmundry, 
$1089.56;  Boarding  department,  $648.20;  Velpur  and  Korukonda,  $947.33; 
Samulkot,  $588.54;  Dowlaishwaram,  $489.50;  Jegurupad,  $438.95;  Tallapudi, 
$380.45;  miscellaneous,  including  part  payment  for  Tallapudi  bungalow, 
$833-24- 


240       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

benefit  of  the  Mission  and  native  Christians."  "Besides  this," 
wrote  Schwartz,  "brother  Schmidt  has  a  carpenter-shop,  a 
blacksmith's  forge  and  a  saw-pit.  He  tells  me  that  in  this  way 
he  is  able  to  make  the  Christian  community  less  dependent 
upon  the  heathen  and  hence  more  truly  Christian ;  that  their 
sons  learn  useful  trades  and  become,  what  is  so  uncommon  in 
India,  artisans  who  can  read  and  write  and  cipher;  that  the 
dignity  of  labor  is  shown  and  the  community  in  general  is 
benefited  by  these  works;  and  that  all  this  is  accomplished 
without  expense  to  the  mission  treasury  and  without  hindering 
him  in  his  work  in  the  district." 

Concerning  the  progress  at  Dowlaishwaram  Dietrich  wrote 
on  January  i,  1887:  "The  Dowlaishwaram  schools  are  three 
in  number,  namely,  our  boys'  school  and  our  girls'  school 
in  town  and  a  boys'  school  just  outside  of  town.  There  are  now 
40  girls  and  50  boys  in  these  schools.  I  put  them  under  govern- 
ment grant,  because  it  does  not  in  any  way  interfere  with  their 
Christian  character  and  much  improves  them.  They  are 
visited  monthly  by  a  government  school  inspector.  The  grant 
received  this  year  was  sufficient  to  pay  off  the  expenses  of  the 
three  schools  for  two  months.  As  Mr.  Van  Stavern  paid  the 
head  teacher  for  the  year  1885,  this  grant  went  to  him." 
Concerning  the  congregation  he  wrote:  "When  I  look  back 
two  years  and  see  the  few  (6  or  8)  who  came  then,  and  now  look 
at  the  crowded  room,  I  feel  very  thankful  to  our  Heavenly 
Father."  Before  the  close  of  the  year  Dietrich  had  secured  one 
and  a  half  acres  of  government  land  in  Dowlaishwaram  at  a 
rental  of  Rs.  5  a  year,  was  negotiating  for  the  purchase  of  an 
adjoining  three  and  a  half  acres  and  had  sent  plans  for  a 
missionary's  dwelling  to  the  Committee  in  America. 

Poulsen  spent  seventy-one  days  on  tour  during  the  last  six 
months  of  the  year  1886.  His  boarding  school  enrolled  only 
5  boys  and  3  girls,  and  could  scarcely  be  called  a  success. 
His  report  contained  the  following  description  of  the  effect 
of  the  caste  system:  "He  who  has  not  seen  the  workings  of 
this  system  can  have  only  a  faint  idea  of  it.  The  prevalent 
conception  of  sin  is  not  immorality  but  the  breaking  of  any 
of  the  many  absurd  caste  rules.  Let  a  man  live  ever  so  wick- 


THE    HOME-CHURCH    LAGS    (1886-87)  241 

edly,  he  is  honored  according  as  his  caste  is  high  or  low;  but 
let  him  drink  water  out  of  a  pot  belonging  to  a  lower  caste 
man  or  eat  what  is  prohibited,  and  he  is  ostracised.  Educa- 
tion, however  extensive,  has  not  been  able  to  change  this. 
Hindu  graduates,  college  professors,  judges  and  collectors 
observe  their  caste  rules  as  well  as  others." 

Despite  the  efforts  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  to 
increase  the  home  income  so  as  to  meet  the  increasing  ex- 
penses of  the  Mission,  the  indebtedness  of  the  treasury 
remained.1 

In  one  direction,  however,  the  outlook  for  increased  inter- 
est in  foreign  missions  was  very  favorable,  for  in  many  con- 
gregations missionary  societies  were  being  organized.  The 
General  Council  at  its  meeting  in  Chicago,  in  1886,  encouraged 
the  formation  of  such  societies.2 

Because  of  its  financial  embarrassment  the  Foreign  Mis- 
sions Committee  was  unable  to  pay  the  salaries  of  its  mis- 
sionaries promptly  and  to  remit  regularly  in  advance,  as  usual, 
for  each  quarter  of  the  year  the  sums  required  for  the  general 
expenses  of  the  mission  work.  The  missionaries  were  asked  to 
exercise  every  economy,  while  reduced  amounts  were  sent  for 
general  expenses.  How  this  affected  the  work  may  be  learned 
from  a  quotation  taken  from  one  of  Schmidt's  semi-annual 
reports:  "For  the  first  three  months  of  the  year  I  was  able 
to  pay  only  a  few  mission  agents.  Rev.  N.  Paulus  and  others 
lost  much  time  by  coming  to  Rajahmundry  and  waiting  for 
money.  P.  V.  Ratnam,  the  headmaster  of  the  Caste  Girls' 
School,  thought  it  best  to  resign  and  seek  government  em- 
ployment. As  soon  as  funds  arrived  in  April  our  prospects 
improved.  Somewhat  later  Ratnam  withdrew  his  resignation, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  summer  holidays  he  returned  to  the 
Caste  Girls'  School;  but  the  number  of  pupils  had  dwindled 

1  To  cancel  this  indebtedness  the  Rev.  H.  Grahn  generously  loaned  the  Com- 
mittee $1000  without  interest. 

2  With  the  exception  of  the  Rev.  C.  G.  Fischer  and  Mr.  J.  C.  File  the  Foreign 
Missions  Committee  was  re-elected  by  the  General  Council  in  1886,  and  the 
following  were  added  as  new  members:  the  Revs.  J.  P.  Deck,  H.  V.  Hilprecht 
and  Messrs.  H.  Frank  and  F.  R.  Bauer.    To  these  the  Committee  at  its  meeting 
in  November  added  Mr.  J.  Washington  Miller  whose  name,  however,  does  not 
appear  in  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Council. 

16 


242       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

during  his  absence,  some  of  the  girls  having  gone  to  the 
Maharajah's  school." 

The  first  Mission  Conference  held  after  the  new  Rules  and 
Regulations  went  into  effect  convened  in  St.  Paul's  Church, 
January  4-6,  1887.  Besides  the  five  missionaries  and  the 
two  native  pastors  about  60  agents  and  lay-delegates  were 
present.  Schmidt  was  elected  chairman;  Poulsen,  English 
secretary;  and  C.  James,  Telugu  secretary.  Groenning  ex- 
plained to  the  Conference  that  only  promising  boys  should 
be  sent  from  the  districts  to  Rajahmundry,  that  all  who  ap- 
plied would  be  required  to  pass  an  entrance  examination  in 
the  Second  Telugu  Book,  and  that  girls  would  be  admitted 
as  boarders  only  after  having  reached  the  age  of  eight  years, 
and  would  not  be  allowed  to  remain  after  having  passed  the 
age  of  twelve  years.  Dissatisfaction  was  expressed  with  the 
use  of  Dawson's  Telugu  hymn-book  in  the  Mission,  because 
its  language  was  not  sufficiently  simple  and  intelligible.  The 
evil  of  drunkenness  was  severely  condemned  and  measures 
were  proposed  to  check  it  among  the  Christians.  The  treasurer 
of  the  Rampa  Fund  (Groenning)  was  instructed  to  deposit 
this  fund  in  a  bank  and  secure  the  same  rate  of  interest  as  the 
Postal  Savings  Bank  allowed.  One-half  of  this  fund  was  to 
be  used  for  the  support  of  an  evangelist  or  catechist,  while 
the  other  half  was  to  be  expended  for  teachers'  widows  and 
poor  Christians,  no  district,  however,  having  the  right  to 
claim  more  than  one-half  of  the  amount  contributed  by  it  to 
this  fund. 

None  of  the  pupils  of  the  Anglo-vernacular  School  in  Rajah- 
mundry were  graduated  at  the  close  of  the  year  1886,  because 
Groenning  had  added  a  fourth  class  and  introduced  a  new  plan 
of  instruction. 

A  Brahmin  was  employed  as  the  Telugu  teacher  for  the  two 
higher  classes.  "I  could,  perhaps,"  wrote  Groenning,  "have 
secured  a  graduate  Christian  teacher  from  the  South  for 
Rs.  30  a  month,  but  believed  that  this  Brahmin  would  teach 
equally  as  well  for  Rs.  6.  As  he  gives  instruction  only  in  lan- 
guage, there  is  little  danger  of  his  doing  injury  to  the  Christian 
character  of  the  school."  The  text-books  of  the  Government 


THE   HOME-CHURCH    LAGS    (1886-87)  243 

in  Telugu  reading  and  grammar,  English  and  history  were 
introduced  as  being  superior  to  any  others;  and  an  effort  was 
made  to  secure  a  number  of  copies  of  the  Telugu  Bible  History 
published  by  the  Hermannsburg  Mission,  but  that  Mission 
declined  to  sell  any  of  them,  whereupon  Groenning  prepared 
a  similar  book. 

When  the  school  was  reopened  in  the  repaired  bungalow 
opposite  the  church  compound  on  January  10,  1887,  so  many 
applied  for  admission  that  25  had  to  be  refused,  principally 
because  of  the  lack  of  accommodations.  The  average  attend- 
ance during  the  first  half  of  the  year  was  114;  47  boys  and 
1 1  girls  were  boarders ;  the  others  were  day  pupils.  Stricter 
discipline  was  introduced  and  soon  every  phase  of  the 
school  work  showed  the  marks  of  Groenning's  master- 
hand. 

That  a  missionary  naturally  becomes  a  center  of  missionary 
interest  for  the  community  from  which  he  comes  may  be 
clearly  seen  in  the  case  of  Groenning.  Through  his  father, 
then  pastor  in  Ballum,  Schleswig,  regular  and  liberal  contri- 
butions were  received  by  the  Mission,  especially  for  the 
Rajahmundry  school.1  He  used  the  money,  thus  sent,  for  the 
repair  of  the  schoolhouse,  for  a  brick  wall  enclosing  the  com- 
pound and  for  gymnasium  and  scientific  apparatus  and  charts. 

Early  in  1887  Mrs.  Schmidt  again  began  sending  lace  to 
America,  having  received  many  orders  while  on  furlough  in 
America. 

Schmidt  spent  almost  a  month — from  March  icth  to  April 
7th — on  a  mission  to  Guntur,  whither  he  was  sent  by  the 

1  In  July,  1887,  Groenning  reported  the  following  receipts:  From  Mr.  Stokes, 
Bath,  England,  Rs.  60;  Mr.  Knuth,  Flensborg,  Rs.  60;  Christian  Thomsen, 
Ballum,  Rs.  10;  Miss  Helem,  Ballum,  Rs.  5.  All  but  Mr.  Stokes'  contributions 
were  for  the  repair  of  the  schoolhouse.  Rev.  C.  W.  Groenning  also  sent  Rs. 
67.6,  collected  at  a  mission  festival  in  Ballum  for  the  erection  of  a  church  at 
Velpur.  Mr.  Val.  Lor.  Meyer,  Hamburg,  Groenning's  father-in-law,  sent 
Schreiber's  wall-charts  and  other  school  apparatus.  "Since  January  last," 
wrote  Groenning,  "my  father  has  sent  in  addition,  from  Neils  Neilsen,  Rs.  37.8; 
Helena  Mickelsen,  Rs.  22.8;  Sewing  Society,  Rs.  22.8;  from  his  own  mission  box, 
Rs.  67.8.  Lorenz  Meyer,  brother  of  Mrs.  Groenning,  sent  Rs.  40,  and  Pastor 
Schelig  of  Hamm,  Rs.  138.5.4.  All  of  these  contributions  were  placed  at  my 
disposal  for  the  mission  school."  During  the  second  half  of  the  year  1887 
Groenning  received  through  his  father  and  brother  Rs.  211  ($100);  and  during 
the  first  half  of  the  year  1888,  from  the  same  sources,  $394.61. 


244       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Foreign  Missions  Committee  to  help  the  General  Synod's 
missionaries  settle  certain  problems  in  their  Mission. 

Dietrich  spent  sixty  days  on  tour  during  the  first  six  months 
of  the  year  1887.  He  arranged  that  Pastor  Joseph  should  meet 
all  of  his  teachers  in  the  Jegurupad  district  one  day  each 
month  to  review  the  lessons  they  had  been  teaching,  and  that 
they  should  spend  from  two  weeks  to  a  month  during  the 
long  vacation  in  the  study  of  the  branches  they  were  required 
to  teach.  He  purchased  as  the  site  for  his  proposed  bungalow 
four  and  a  half  acres  of  land  at  Dowlaishwaram  for  Rs.  600, 
adding  them  to  the  lot  secured  from  the  government  and 
making  six  acres  in  all.  A  small  organ  was  purchased  for  the 
Dowlaishwaram  congregation  and  the  full  liturgical  service 
of  the  Telugu  Church  Book  was  introduced  in  that  congre- 
gation. 

Poulsen  wrote:  "When  I  first  came  here  I  got  no  workers 
at  all  from  our  old  fields,  so  I  had  to  take  dismissed  and 
rejected  ones  from  the  English  Church  Missions  and  from  our 
boarding  school  in  Rajahmundry.  As  one  might  expect, 
some  were  unfit.  Here  I  am  with  only  a  few  workers  and 
no  prospect  of  getting  more  for  a  long  time  to  come.  The 
pastors  in  the  old  fields,  Velpur  and  Jegurupad,  naturally 
want  their  own  boys  back  again  when  they  have  been  gradu- 
ated." 

McCready,  after  having  practically  completed  and  occu- 
pied his  new  bungalow  at  Tallapudi,  devoted  himself  to  work 
in  the  district.  He  made  a  special  effort  to  reach  the  Mala 
population,  and  succeeded  in  making  4  converts  from  that 
caste.  In  addition  he  baptized  21  Madigas  during  the  first 
half  of  the  year  1887. 

The  statistics  submitted  at  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year, 
ending  June  30,  1887,  showed  only  a  slight  increase  over  the 
previous  year,  but  gratifying  progress  had  been  made  in  the 
matter  of  increased  benevolent  contributions  from  the  native 
Christians.1 

1  The  total  amount  of  benevolent  contributions  during  the  year  1877  was 
Rs.  226.13.1,  of  which  Rs.  34  was  contributed  in  Rajahmundry,  Rs.  68.1 1  in 
the  Velpur  district,  Rs.  20.2.10  in  the  Tallapudi  district,  Rs.  19.15  in  the  Jegu- 
rupad district  and  Rs.  15.5.3  m  the  Dowlaishwaram  district. 


THE    HOME-CHURCH    LAGS    (1886-87)  245 

Pastor  Joseph's  house  at  Jegurupad  was  finished  before  the 
close  of  the  year  at  an  expense  of  Rs.  350,  about  $125.  Imagine 
a  minister  in  the  United  States  being  satisfied  with  a  parsonage 
costing  as  little  as  that! 

The  Gorinta  congregation  in  the  Samulkot  district  was 
severely  tried  during  the  year  1887.  "A  young  man  from  a 
village  in  which  the  Baptists  have  converts  returned  to 
heathenism  and  came  to  live  in  Gorinta.  'Do  as  we  did  in  our 
village,'  he  advised,  'excommunicate  .e  Christians  and  they 
will  soon  give  in,  and  we  shall  all  be  one,  as  before.'  One 
young  man  from  among  the  Christians  joined  him  and  became 
the  chief  enemy  of  the  congregation.  It  is  not  possible  to  get 
a  lot  of  ground  to  build  a  prayer-house,  so  the  Christians  of 
Gorinta  have  been  meeting  in  an  open  place,  whither  the 
villagers  frequently  resort.  When  they  were  not  left  to  worship 
in  peace,  they  retired  to  the  teacher's  house  which  belongs  to 
the  head  Mala,  the  principal  Christian  of  the  village.  Even 
then  the  mob  broke  in  during  prayer  and  abused  the  Chris- 
tians, especially  the  women,  in  all  the  foul  language  in  which 
Telugu  is  so  rich  and  of  which  the  low  people  are  so  fond.  .  .  . 
The  heathen  no  longer  acknowledge  this  Christian  as  their 
headman  and  threaten  to  fine  him  for  being  a  Christian.  If 
he  pays  the  fine,  it  is  a  sign  that  he  renounces  Christianity; 
if  he  does  not,  they  will  shut  him  out  of  their  community. 
Nobody  must  then  visit  him,  or  give  him  fire,  or  work  for  him; 
and  if  anyone  dies  in  his  house,  no  one  must  help  him  to  carry 
out  the  dead.  He  has  hitherto  bravely  resisted  all  tempta- 
tions but  has  been  obliged  to  lodge  a  complaint  in  court 
against  the  disturbers;  yet  justice  for  the  few  Christians  here 
is  a  rare  thing,  and  no  one  has  scruples  about  swearing  falsely 
against  his  neighbor.  Of  course,  the  caste  people,  Brahmins 
and  Sudras,  are  behind  the  disturbers  and  uphold  them,  while 
they,  in  turn,  are  dependent  on  the  caste  people  for  a  liveli- 
hood." 

The  schools  for  Mohammedan  boys  and  girls,  which  Mc- 
Cready  after  Artman's  death  succeeded  in  keeping  up  with 
the  aid  of  some  government  grant,  were  little  more  than  an 
experiment.  The  boys'  school  enrolled  39  pupils  taught  by 


246       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

four  teachers;  the  girls'  school,  26  pupils  taught  by  two 
teachers.  The  Caste  Girls'  school  in  charge  of  Mrs.  Schmidt 
closed  the  year  1881  with  40  pupils.  P.  V.  Ratnam  was  still 
the  headmaster.  In  this  school,  as  well  as  in  the  Christian 
schools  in  Rajahmundry,  Christmas  was  celebrated  as  usual  in 
a  manner  resembling,  as  far  as  possible,  the  celebration  of  the 
festival  in  Christian  lands.  The  chief  attraction  was  always 
the  distribution  of  clothing,  toys  and  other  gifts  sent  to  India 
from  America  in  so-called  Christmas  boxes,  or  provided  by 
the  missionaries  out  of  their  private  purses,  or  with  money 
contributed  by  friends  in  India  and  America.  On  one  of  the 
days  immediately  preceding  or  following  December  25th,  all 
the  Christians  in  Rajahmundry  and  its  vicinity  were  given  a 
dinner  of  rice  and  curry,  usually  at  the  expense  of  the  English 
judge  of  the  district. 

"We  generally  use  a  tamarind  branch  as  a  Christmas  tree," 
wrote  Mrs.  Schmidt,  describing  the  celebration  in  the  Caste 
Girls'  Schools,  "but  because  they  are  so  crooked,  Mr.  Schmidt 
this  year  tried  to  improve  on  nature  and  made  a  frame  with  a 
point,  on  which  he  tied  leaves  and  branches  so  as  to  look  more 
like  our  Christmas  trees  at  home.  Each  child  got  a  basket 
made  of  palmyra  leaves  decorated  with  colored  paper,  the 
skirts  and  jackets  being  tied  around  them;  and  inside  the 
baskets  were  fruits  and  sweets  and  the  dolls  standing  on  the 
toys.  The  children  came  in  a  procession,  singing  a  hymn.  It 
is  a  fine  sight  to  see  them  in  their  bright  clothes  and  loaded 
with  jewelry.  Sometimes,  I  think,  all  the  jewels  of  a  family 
are  displayed  on  a  child.  Generally  the  jewelry  is  the  one  valu- 
able possession  of  a  family.  After  some  singing  Rev.  Dietrich 
delivered  an  address  on  the  Christmas  tree.  Then  there  were 
some  recitations  of  the  Christmas  story  and  the  smaller 
children  repeated  some  Scripture  texts.  After  another  hymn 
the  regular  and  best  pupils  received  their  prizes  and  the 
others  their  presents  from  the  tree.  Next  day  we  went  to 
Dowlaishwaram  for  the  celebration  there." 

The  giving  of  alms  to  beggars,  inaugurated  by  Valett,  fol- 
lowing Heyer's  example  at  Guntur,  had  not  yet  entirely 
ceased,  for  Dietrich  in  a  letter  under  the  date  of  December  8, 


HANS    CHRISTIAN    SCHMIDT 


AUGUSTUS    B.    CARLSON 


WILLIAM    GROENNING 


IVER     K.     POULSEN 


HORACE    G.    B.    ARTMAN 


CHRISTIAN    F.  J.   BECKER 


MISSIONARIES    IN    INDIA 


A   TELUC.U   FAMILY 
A    native    Christian    teacher,    wife    and    chile 


A  CONFERENCE  OF  NATIVE  CHRISTIAN  WORKERS 
This  picture  was  taken  on  the  north   side  of   St.   Paul's  Church,   Rajahmundry,   in    1910. 


THE    HOME-CHURCH    LAGS    (1886-87)  247 

1887,  wrote:  "On  the  first  and  second  of  every  month  I  give 
the  beggars  that  gather  in  my  compound  their  'dubs.'  Quite 
a  number  gather  on  the  mornings  of  these  days.  When  I  had 
charge  of  the  school  and  had  a  Bible  reading  in  Rajahmundry, 
I  made  them  sit  down  and  listen  to  preaching  for  half  an  hour 
or  so.  I  often  wished  that  man  would  be  as  anxious  for  the 
Gospel  as  he  is  for  money;  how  soon  every  soul  on  earth  would 
be  converted!" 

In  its  report  to  the  General  Council  at  Greenville,  Pa.,  in 
1887,  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee,  after  stating  that  the 
indebtedness  of  $1600,  reported  the  previous  year,  had  not 
yet  been  canceled,  continued  as  follows:  "We  are  persuaded 
that,  notwithstanding  the  urgent  demands  of  all  the  various 
objects  of  benevolence  presented  to  our  people,  they  are  ready 
to  give  to  the  cause  of  foreign  missions  the  funds  needed  to 
maintain  and  enlarge  the  work  of  our  Mission.  Two  things 
seems  to  us  to  be  chiefly  necessary  to  secure  these  funds. 
The  first  is  to  bring  the  subject  more  fully  to  their  attention; 
the  second,  to  secure  a  more  complete  organization  of  the 
agencies  for  collecting  funds  and  distributing  information. 
The  two  papers  issued  by  the  General  Council  devoted  to 
foreign  missions,  one  in  English  and  one  in  German,  have  done 
much  and  could  do  much  more  were  they  more  generally  cir- 
culated. ...  It  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  the  Council 
should  devise  some  mode  of  securing  for  the  work  a  more 
active  and  efficient  administration." 

What  the  Committee  sought  to  accomplish  was  done  in  the 
ninth  session  of  the  Council,  when  it  was  resolved,  "That  the 
Foreign  Missions  Committee  at  their  discretion  appoint  a 
Secretary  of  Foreign  Missions,  assign  his  duties  and  fix  his 
salary."  The  Council,  furthermore,  sought  to  relieve  the  finan- 
cial burden  of  the  Committee  by  resolving  that  one-third  of 
the  surplus  income  of  the  German  and  English  publications 
of  the  Council  should  be  turned  into  the  treasury  of  the 
Foreign  Missions  Committee. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  HAND  OF  DEATH   (1888-89) 

UNDER  the  Rules  and  Regulations  which  went  into  effect 
in  the  Mission  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1887, the  adminis- 
tration on  the  field  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  foreign 
missionaries  who  met  semi-annually  as  a  Mission  Council. 
To  this  Council  was  delegated  the  duty  of  considering  and 
recommending  to  the  Home  Committee,  with  whom  the  final 
decision  rested,  whatever  measures  were  necessary  for  the 
proper  administration  and  development  of  the  mission  work, 
the  erection  of  buildings,  the  appointment  of  native  agents, 
the  schools  and  whatever  pertained  to  the  care  and  control 
of  the  Mission.  At  each  meeting  of  the  Council  each  mission- 
ary was  required  to  submit  a  written  semi-annual  report  of  all 
official  acts  and  expenditures,  and  an  estimate  of  expenses  for 
the  coming  six  months,  to  be  approved  by  the  vote  of  the 
Council  and  sent  as  an  official  communication  to  the  Com- 
mittee in  America  for  its  sanction  or  amendment. 

The  Rules  and  Regulations  also  provided  for  an  Annual 
Conference  of  foreign  missionaries,  native  agents  and  dele- 
gates of  native  congregations,  which  was  to  receive  the  written 
reports  of  the  pastors,  catechists  and  evangelists,  and  oral 
reports  of  the  teachers,  and  consider  such  matters  as  per- 
tained to  their  work. 

The  Conference  met  January  1-4,  1888,  beginning  on 
Sunday  with  divine  services  in  St.  Paul's  Church.  After  the 
formal  opening  on  Monday  morning  Schmidt  was  elected 
President;  Dietrich,  English  Secretary;  and  C.  James,  Telugu 
Secretary.  Business  sessions  were  held  every  morning  and 
public  meetings  every  evening.  The  Conference  expressed 
its  gratitude  to  Sir  Arthur  Cotton  for  his  continued  interest 
in  the  Mission  as  evidenced  by  his  support  of  a  colporteur 
(Talluri  Joseph)  during  the  year.  The  holding  of  weekly 

248 


THE   HAND    OP   DEATH    (1888-89)  249 

prayer-meetings  at  the  homes  of  Christians  was  recommended. 
With  regard  to  the  Widows'  Fund  it  was  resolved  that  if  a 
widow  marries  again  or  has  a  son  sixteen  years  of  age  or  a 
married  daughter,  her  stipend  shall  cease.  On  the  subject 
of  the  baptism  of  a  man  having  more  than  one  wife,  the 
opinion  was  expressed  that  the  admission  of  such  a  person 
into  the  Christian  Church  is  contrary  to  the  Word  of  God 
and  the  practice  of  the  Church  of  all  ages,  and  that  those  who 
have  already  been  admitted  "while  in  this  unfortunate  and 
unrighteous  state"  should  be  urged  to  abandon  all  but  one 
wife  or  forfeit  all  rights  to  Christian  communion. 

The  Mission  Council  met  January  6-10,  1888.  Poulsen  was 
elected  President  and  Schmidt,  Secretary.  Regulations  with 
regard  to  the  transfer  of  members  from  one  congregation  to 
another,  and  to  discipline,  were  adopted.  The  minimum  of 
required  knowledge  was  fixed  for  such  as  applied  or  were  pro- 
posed as  teachers  and  had  not  been  graduated  from  the 
Ramahmundry  Training-school.1  Mark  and  Prakasam  were 
examined,  passed  and  assigned  positions  as  teachers.  Srira- 
mulu  was  appointed  evangelist  under  Schmidt,  on  trial  for  one 
year. 

In  April,  1888,  Poulsen  withdrew  from  the  Mission  and  came 
to  the  United  States  with  his  family,  stopping  on  the  way  in 
Denmark.  He  had  been  the  missionary  at  Samulkot  for  six 
years  and  had  spent  seventeen  years  in  the  service  of  the 
General  Council  as  a  missionary  in  India.  He  had  been  a 
faithful  pioneer,  and  his  permanent  withdrawal  was  the  first 
of  a  series  of  misfortunes  which  within  two  years  over- 
whelmed the  Mission  and  left  it  badly  crippled.  He  served 
Danish  congregations  in  Portland,  Me.;  Omaha,  Neb.,  and 
Marinette,  Wis.  He  died  September  26, 1913,  at  Marinette, 
having  reached  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years. 

1  The  following  were  to  be  the  requirements:  Reading,  the  Telugu  Bible! 
Writing,  a  fair  hand  in  Telugu;  Composition,  expressing  thoughts  properly; 
Arithmetic,  notation,  numeration  and  the  four  simple  rules;  Geography,  a 
general  knowledge  of  the  Godavery  district;  Bible  History,  a  general  outline 
of  Bible  History  from  the  birth  of  John  to  the  imprisonment  of  Paul  and  from 
the  creation  of  the  world  to  the  death  of  Solomon;  Catechism,  the  principal 
parts  by  heart  and  a  fair  understanding  of  the  whole;  Hymns,  ability  to  start 
at  least  four  tunes. 


250       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Dietrich  took  charge  of  the  Samulkot  district  after  Poulsen's 
departure,  attempting  to  look  after  it  in  addition  to  his  work 
in  the  Jegurupad  district.  Concerning  the  Jegurupad  con- 
gregation and  school  Dietrich  wrote:  "Here  we  have  a  nice 
congregation,  a  substantial  church  building  and  a  house  for 
the  pastor.  Rev.  Joseph's  daughter  teaches  the  school, 
which  numbers  about  25  pupils.  She  has  done  real  good  work. 
Of  all  the  schools  in  the  out-stations  hers  stands  first.  In 
the  congregation  we  have  introduced  the  full  liturgical  service." 

Concerning  the  work  at  Muramunda  he  said:  "At  Mura- 
munda,  also,  we  have  a  nice  congregation  and  a  substantial 
school  building.  Owing  to  the  lack  of  a  qualified  teacher 
the  school  is  in  a  poor  condition  and  the  congregation 
not  what  it  might  be."  In  other  villages  of  the  Jegurupad 
district  the  so-called  congregations  "are  not  yet  worthy  of 
the  name,"  is  the  missionary's  language.  Dowlaishwaram, 
however,  was  fast  approaching  the  state  and  character  of  a 
regular  congregation,  for  in  1888  the  chapel  was  enlarged 
so  as  to  seat  about  two  hundred  persons,  sitting  cross-legged 
on  the  floor. 

As  a  result  of  the  decreased  income  from  America  the 
boarding  schools  in  Rajahmundry  were  closed  during  January 
and  February,  1888.  Groenning  took  advantage  of  this 
vacation  to  make  a  visit  to  the  Schleswig-Holstein  Mission 
stations  at  Salur  and  Jeypur.  On  the  first  of  May  the 
schools  were  reopened  with  several  new  teachers.  V.  Jacob 
left  the  Government  College  to  devote  a  year  to  teaching 
in  the  Mission  School.  Paradesi,  a  graduate  of  the  school, 
took  Alfred's  place1  as  teacher  of  the  two  lower  classes. 
Subbarayudu  was  substituted  in  the  place  of  Perayya  as  the 
Telugu  teacher  in  the  higher  classes.  All  of  the  41  boarding 
boys  and  12  boarding  girls  attending  the  school  in  1888,  were 
supported  by  patrons  in  America;  17  boys  and  15  girls,  in 
addition,  were  day-pupils.2 

1  Alfred  had  died  in  the  service.     "Though  not  a  gifted  man,  he  was  a  pious 
and  upright  Christian,"  is  the  testimony  given  concerning  him. 

2  The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  parochial  reports  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  1888:  Foreign  missionaries,  4;  missionaries'  wives,  3;  native  pastors,  2; 
catechists  and  evangelists,  7;  teachers  at  Rajahmundry,  8;  at  other  stations  and 


THE    HAND    OF   DEATH    (1888-89) 

McCready  closed  the  Mohammedan  Boys'  School  on  March 
15,  1888;  but  it  was  continued  for  a  while  longer  by  the 
School  Union  of  Rajahmundry.  On  June  ist  the  Moham- 
medan Girls'  School  was  transferred  by  McCready  to 
Groenning  who  took  charge  of  it  in  the  name  of  the  Mission 
with  the  understanding  that  its  "gosha,"  or  secluded  char- 
acter, was  to  be  abolished,  because  that  prevented  direct 
supervision  by  the  missionary.  Rather  than  comply  with  this 
requirement  the  parents  of  the  girls  forbade  their  daughters 
to  attend  the  school,  and  it  was  temporarily  closed. 

Dietrich  who,  in  1888,  baptized  as  many  as  33  persons 
in  Dowlaishwaram,  cast  an  interesting  side-light  on  the 
mission  work  in  the  following  language:  "The  Hindus  seem 
never  so  happy  than  when  they  are  engaged  in  a  wedding,  in 
a  law-suit  or  in  making  debts.  The  Christian  converts  seem 
unable  to  shake  off  this  characteristic.  It  is  pitiable  to  note 
that  nearly  two-thirds  of  our  mission  agents  are  in  debt. 
I  have  taken  special  notice  of  this  evil  during  the  last  six 
months  and  am  fully  persuaded  that  it  has  had  a  baneful 
influence  on  our  mission  work.  Agents  contract  debts  and 
then  allow  the  exorbitant  interest  to  accumulate,  until  it  be- 
comes impossible  for  them  to  liquidate  them.  The  conse- 
quence is  that  they  shirk  their  debts,  litigation  follows,  and 
in  the  end  they  disgrace  the  Christian  name." 

On  November  26,  1888,  McCready  laid  the  corner-stone 

out-stations,  54.     Baptisms  during  1887,  235;  from  January  to  June,  1888,  170; 
confirmations,  7;  communicants,  810. 

Contributions. 
District.  Christians.      Communicants.        Pupils.  Rs. 

1.  Rajahmundry 153  83  132  15.4 

2.  Korukonda 23  13 

3. Dowlaishwaram, town.  70  30  86  20.  9.  6 

4.  Velpur 1331  321  333  77.10 

5.  Jegurupad 294  191  112  25.  o.  4 

6.  Samulkot 122  84  n  2.  4 

7.  Tallapudi 176  107  124  64.4 


Totals 2169  816  811  204.15.10 

The  income  in  India  for  the  fiscal  year,  exclusive  of  missionaries'  salaries, 
amounted  to  $5019.04,  which,  though  somewhat  larger  than  the  income  of  the 
previous  year,  was  still  less  than  that  of  1886,  and  much  too  small  for  the  work 
in  hand,  not  to  speak  of  the  opportunities  for  expansion  which,  consequently 
were  lost. 


252       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

of  the  new  St.  Peter's  Church  at  Tallapudi.  He  had  secured 
quite  a  number  of  subscriptions  from  relatives  and  friends  in 
India  and  in  America,  as  well  as  a  little  money  from  his  dis- 
trict teachers  and  Christians;  but  the  funds  came  in  slowly 
and  the  completion  of  the  building  was  considerably  delayed. 
With  money  sent  by  the  Rev.  C.  W.  Groenning,  Schmidt, 
on  September  28th,  secured  three  lots  in  the  village  of  Bhima- 
waram  as  a  site  for  a  proposed  church,  paying  Rs.  600  for 
them.  From  the  same  source  Groenning  received  sufficient 
funds  to  erect  an  addition  to  the  school  building  at  Rajah- 
mundry.  At  the  close  of  the  year  12  young  men  were  per- 
mitted to  leave  the  school  to  be  assigned  positions  as  teachers, 
although  they  had  not  actually  finished  the  course  outlined 
by  Groenning.  They  were  welcomed  as  the  first  addition  to 
the  corps  of  native  workers  in  two  years. 

More  than  a  passing  notice  must  be  given  at  this  point  to 
the  value  of  the  service  of  the  Rev.  B.  M.  Schmucker,  D.  D., 
whose  death  occurred  on  October  15,  1888,  at  Phcenixville, 
Pa.,  while  on  his  way  from  Pottstown  to  Philadelphia.  He 
was  born  on  August  26,  1827,  at  Gettysburg,  Pa.  Ordained 
in  1844,  he  served  congregations  at  Martinsburg  and  Shep- 
herdstown,  Va.,  Easton,  Pa.  (St.  John's),  Reading,  Pa. 
(St.  James'),  and  Pottstown,  Pa.  (Church  of  the  Transfigura- 
tion). He  was  a  recognized  leader  in  the  General  Council 
and  served  on  a  number  of  its  most  important  committees, 
notably  the  Church  Book  and  the  Foreign  Missions  Com- 
mittees. All  of  the  reports  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee 
to  the  General  Council  from  the  beginning  until  1887  were 
prepared  by  him.  He  was  the  English  Recording  and  Corre- 
sponding Secretary  of  the  Committee  without  interruption 
for  twelve  years,  from  the  time  the  Committee  was  first  ap- 
pointed in  1876;  and  before  that  he  had  served  in  the  same 
offices  on  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Ministerium  of 
Pennsylvania. 

With  regard  to  his  influence  in  the  Committee  the  editor 
of  "The  Foreign  Missionary"  wrote:  "Dr.  Schmucker  had 
been  so  long  connected  with  the  work  at  Rajahmundry,  so 


THE    HAND    OF    DEATH    (1888-89)  253 

familiar  with  all  its  details,  so  heartily  devoted  to  its  earnest 
and  judicious  administration  and  so  hopeful  of  great  success, 
that  he  seemed  to  his  colleagues  largely  to  concentrate  in 
himself  the  life  of  the  Committee.  His  counsels  were  judi- 
cious, his  action  was  wise  and  prompt,  and  he  appeared  to 
them  to  be  indispensable." 

The  Foreign  Missions  Committee  adopted  the  following 
minute  on  October  226.:  "The  Committee  on  Foreign  Missions, 
under  a  deep  sense  of  personal  bereavement,  shares  in  the  pro- 
found sorrow  which  has  been  awakened  in  many  hearts  by  the 
decease  of  their  late  English  Secretary,  the  Rev.  Dr.  B.  M. 
Schmucker.  They  hereby  bear  testimony  to  his  personal 
worth  and  to  the  value  of  his  service  in  the  official  position 
which  he  filled  so  faithfully  and  so  long  in  connection  with 
this  Committee.  Thorough  in  his  acquaintance  with  our 
foreign  mission  work,  familiar  with  all  its  details,  prompt 
and  diligent  in  all  the  divers  labors  of  his  office,  he  commanded, 
as  a  co-laborer,  our  fraternal  love  and  highest  esteem,  and  was 
acknowledged  as  a  leader  who  knew  what  ought  to  be  done, 
and  whom  it  was  safe  for  us  to  follow." 

How  Dr.  Schmucker  was  esteemed  in  India  may  be  learned 
from  President  Schmidt's  report  to  the  Missionary  Confer- 
ence, held  at  Tallapudi  in  January,  1889,  from  which  the 
following  is  quoted:  "He  was  the  home-leader.  Since  1869 
all  orders  went  through  his  hands,  and  he  remitted  all  money 
contributed  for  our  Mission.  .  .  .  The  principal  leader  of 
our  Mission  has  ceased  to  work  for  us;  but  we  are  not  left 
destitute  while  God  abides  with  us." 

In  its  report  to  the  General  Council  at  Minneapolis,  Sep- 
tember 13-19,  I888,1  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  incor- 
porated this  significant  passage:  "In  some  parts  of  our 
Church — we  may  mention  the  Pittsburgh  Synod  especially — 
there  seems  to  be  an  increased  interest  in  our  work,  and 
earnest  efforts  are  put  forth  and  faithful  prayers  are  offered 

1  In  the  place  of  the  Rev.  M.  J.  England  the  General  Council,  in  1888,  elected 
the  Rev.  P.  J.  O.  Cornell,  and  added  the  following  members:  The  Revs.  W.  J. 
Mann,  D.  D.,  L.  P.  Bender  and  E.  J.  Pohle.  The  Rev.  William  Ashmead 
Schaeffer  was  elected  by  the  Committee  to  succeed  Dr.  Schmuckler  as  the 
English  recording  and  corresponding  secretary. 


254       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

in  behalf  of  the  great  cause  of  bringing  the  heathen  to  know 
the  true  God  and  Jesus  Christ,  Whom  He  hath  sent.  Never- 
theless, we  are  convinced  that  a  still  more  generous  interest 
in  foreign  missions  should  be  manifested  by  the  congregations 
and  people  connected  with  the  General  Council.  That  we 
have  but  one  mission  station  in  heathen  lands  is  hardly  to  the 
credit  of  our  part  of  the  Church;  and  that  this  station  is  not 
better  supported,  so  that  its  boundaries  might  be  yet  more 
widely  extended,  is  a  fact  that,  we  respectfully  submit,  should 
engage  our  earnest  attention,  if  haply  measures  might  be 
adopted,  commending  themselves  to  our  people,  which  would 
secure  for  this  work  such  a  generous  support  as  would  enable 
us  to  send  out  more  missionaries,  locate  new  stations,  erect 
the  necessary  churches,  schoolbuildings  and  dwellings,  and 
in  every  possible  way  develop  the  field  to  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  salvation  of  souls." 

The  gratification  of  the  Committee  at  the  increasing  in- 
terest and  effort  of  the  Church  at  home  was  caused  by  the 
increased  income,  which  amounted  to  $10,288.20,  as  com- 
pared with  $9066.88  during  the  previous  year.  Nevertheless, 
there  was  a  deficit  of  $19.69,  and  an  indebtedness  of  $1000 
to  Mrs.  A.  Spaeth  of  Philadelphia,  who  had  loaned  the 
Committee  that  sum. 

The  year  1889  began  auspiciously  both  in  the  Mission  and 
in  the  Church  at  home.  A  strong  appeal  of  the  Foreign 
Missions  Committee,  printed  in  the  March  and  April  issues 
of  "The  Foreign  Missionary"  and  "Missionsbote,"  copies  of 
which  were  distributed  broadcast  throughout  the  Church, 
resulted  in  increased  contributions,  so  that  in  June  it  was 
resolved  to  increase  the  quarterly  remittances  to  the  Mission 
for  general  expenses  from  $1000  to  $1300.  The  Committee, 
moreover,  agreed  to  give  two  rupees  for  every  one  contributed 
by  the  native  Christians  for  the  Tallapudi  church.  Further- 
more, Dietrich  was  authorized  to  proceed  with  the  erection  of 
a  house  for  his  catechist,  J.  William,  and  to  begin  what  was 
intended  to  be  the  Artman  Memorial  bungalow  in  Dowlaish- 
waryam,  the  cost  of  which  was  estimated  at  $1800.  Nearly 
$1000  had  already  been  collected. 


THE    HAND    OF   DEATH    (1888-89)  2S5 

In  the  Mission  the  year  began,  as  usual,  with  the  meetings 
of  the  Mission  Conference  and  the  Council,  which  were  held 
for  the  first  time  outside  of  Rajahmundry,  in  Tallapudi. 
McCready  had  planned  to  finish  the  church  in  time  for  these 
meetings,  but  his  plans  miscarried,  for  the  masons  had  done 
their  work  so  poorly  that  the  walls  of  the  new  building  had  to 
be  torn  down  again.  As  a  consequence  the  meetings  were 
held  in  a  temporary  structure  of  palm  leaves. 

About  sixty  native  agents  attended  the  Conference,  which 
lasted  from  Sunday,  January  5th,  to  Thursday  afternoon,, 
January  pth.  It  was  resolved  "that  those  who  do  not  attend 
the  Preparatory  Service  be  excluded  from  the  Lord's  Table, 
except  under  exceptional  circumstances."  After  a  lengthy 
discussion  on  the  policy  to  be  adopted  with  regard  to  the 
use  of  wine  and  "toddy,"  the  Conference  resolved  "that  this 
Conference  is  of  the  opinion  that  although  the  use  of  wine  and 
fermented  liquor  is  not  in  itself  sinful,  nevertheless,  it  should 
be  observed,  as  a  rule,  that  all  mission  agents  should  abstain 
from  strong  drink  and  not  take  part  in  any  feast  where  strong 
drink  is  used  to  excess.  Also,  that  they  should  endeavor  to 
teach  all  converts  to  live  soberly;  and  that  if  a  mission  agent 
goes  for  drink  to  a  toddy  or  liquor  shop  or  is  found  drunken, 
he  must  be  disciplined,  and  if  he  does  not  discontinue  such 
habits,  he  must  not  remain  in  the  service  of  the  Mission." 

An  important  decision  was  reached  by  the  Mission  Council, 
held  directly  after  the  Conference,  when  it  was  resolved  to 
place  all  mission  schools  under  government  supervision  after 
November,  1889.  Groenning's  finished  manuscript  in  Telugu 
on  the  History  of  the  Old  Testament  was  recommended  for 
publication.1  Many  plates  used  for  illustrations  in  this  book 
had  been  sent  from  America  in  the  Christmas  boxes  which 
were  being  shipped  each  year  under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  R. 
A.  Diehl  and  other  women  of  Allentown,  Pa. 

When  the  Rajahmundry  schools  were  reopened  for  the  year 
1889,  another  attempt  was  made  with  the  Mohammedan  Girls' 

1  This  Old  Testament  History  was  published  by  the  Mission  in  1895.  It 
was  printed  in  Madras  by  the  press  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  Chris- 
tian Knowledge. 


256       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

School.  Instead  of  being  driven  from  their  homes  to  the 
school  in  a  bullock  bandy,  as  formerly,  the  girls  were  asked 
to  walk,  and  did  so,  but  not  without  complaining  somewhat 
of  the  public  exposure  which  it  necessitated.  At  first  the 
Mohammedan  teacher,  Abdul  Rahim  Sheriff,  agreed  to  teach 
the  Christian  religion  in  Hindustani;  but  a  day  or  so  after  the 
school  opened  he  declared  that  as  an  honest  Mohammedan 
he  could  not  possibly  do  so.  He  offered,  however,  to  interpret 
into  Hindustani  whatever  instruction  in  Christianity  might  be 
given  by  a  Telugu  teacher.  Thereupon  Mrs.  Groenning  de- 
voted an  hour  a  day  to  teaching  Old  Testament  history  and 
Scripture  passages  translated  by  the  Mohammedan.  After 
this  hour  in  religion  Mrs.  Groenning  spent  another  among 
the  girls,  teaching  them  how  to  sew.  Under  her  direction  and 
that  of  Mrs.  Schmidt  in  the  other  Rajahmundry  schools 
as  many  as  250  or  300  garments  were  made  in  a  year,  which 
were  distributed  as  Christmas  presents  in  the  districts. 

The  Samulkot  boarding  school  was  discontinued,  and  the 
5  boys  and  i  girl  remaining  in  it  were  sent  to  Rajahmundry. 

On  January  23,  1889,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schmidt  started  on  the 
"Dove  of  Peace"  for  a  trip  through  the  canals  of  the  delta. 
"Mrs.  Schmidt,"  wrote  her  husband,  "makes  it  her  special 
work  when  we  are  on  tours  to  conduct  the  examination  of  the 
schools,  and  we  get  through  considerably  more  work  by  this 
divided  labor."  The  school  children  were  usually  brought  by 
their  teachers  to  the  boat,  accompanied  by  their  parents, 
relatives  and  friends.  A  school  examination,  described  as 
follows,  may  serve  as  a  typical  example:  "To-day  the  school 
marched  up  to  the  side  of  our  boat  and  the  examination  began 
at  once.  Sriramulu  had  brought  the  school  register  from  the 
village.  The  attendance  had  been  noted  down  as  fair.  Half 
a  dozen  boys  were  still  at  spelling,  and  many  had  begun  to 
read  the  First  Telugu  Book.  The  best  pupils  could  repeat  the 
Lord's  Prayer  and  a  part  of  the  Apostles'  Creed.  They  also 
knew  a  little  about  the  birth  of  Christ  and  his  death,  and 
something  of  his  miracles.  About  twenty  men  and  women 
and  some  children  stood  on  the  shore,  evidently  feeling  quite 
proud  that  these  children  had  mastered  the  first  steps  of 


THE    HAND    OF   DEATH    (1888-89)  257 

knowledge.  Every  boy  got  a  jacket  and  the  best  girls  a 
skirt,  besides  some  fruit,  sweet-meats  and  a  picture  card. 
The  little  girl  who  had  attended  180  days  in  seven  months 
received  a  doll  as  a  special  prize." 

At  Chittipet,  ten  miles  from  Rajahmundry,  our  mis- 
sionaries, as  they  passed  in  their  house-boat,  saw  the  Plymouth 
Brethren  missionary  located  there,  actively  engaged  in  super- 
intending the  erection  of  a  church.  The  Plymouth  Brethren 
mission  intruded  even  farther  into  our  field  by  locating  Mis- 
sionary Miles  at  Dowlaishwaram,  less  than  five  miles  from 
Rajahmundry,  and  building  a  bungalow  for  him  there,  close 
to  the  one  which  Dietrich  was  beginning  to  erect. 

In  March  Schmidt  went  to  Korukonda  to  preach  to  the 
multitudes  at  the  annual  festival  there.  He  was  assisted  by  a 
number  of  native  agents  and  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  A. 
Theophilus,  the  superintendent  of  colporteurs  for  the  Madras 
Bible  Society.  Missionary  Heelis  from  Narsapur  also  went 
to  the  festival.  "We  missionaries,"  wrote  Schmidt,  "had 
large  crowds  around  us,  and  my  wife  sat  under  a  tree  with  the 
wife  of  B.  John,  our  teacher  in  Korukonda,  and  they  had  a 
large  crowd  of  women  around  them,  who  were  not  a  little 
astonished  to  hear  a  native  woman  read  the  Word  of  God." 
On  the  way  farther  north  a  visit  was  paid  to  Srirangapatnam, 
where  a  school  enrolling  20  pupils  had  just  been  begun.  N. 
Prakasam  was  the  teacher.  He  is  still  working  at  that  place. 

In  Kovur,  on  the  bank  of  the  Godavery  River  opposite 
Rajahmundry,  where  McCready  had  succeeded  in  making  a 
number  of  converts  from  the  Madiga  class,  he  induced  the 
Christians  to  build  a  large  prayer-house  and  a  smaller  building 
for  the  teacher  on  ground  donated  by  two  brothers,  one  of 
whom  was  a  convert.  In  Tallapudi  work  on  the  new  church 
was  slowly  progressing.  In  April,  1889,  McCready  made  a 
trip  up  the  Godavery  River  to  the  gorge  (Bison  Hill) ,  visiting 
every  village  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river  on  the  return  voyage. 

Summoned  to  appear  at  court  hi  Madras  as  a  witness  against 
a  man  who  had  forged  his  name  to  a  check,  Schmidt,  accom- 
panied by  his  wife,  left  Rajahmundry  on  April  6,  1889.  While 
in  Madras  he  purchased  type  and  other  material  for  the 
17 


258       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

printing-press  at  Rajahmundry.  The  funds  for  the  necessary 
outfit  of  the  printery  had  been  contributed  by  Mrs.  C.  W. 
Schaeffer.  Mrs.  Schmidt  proceeded  to  Kotagiri,  Nilgiri  Hills, 
whither  her  husband  followed,  to  spend  the  hot  season. 

"Dietrich  died  June  nth."  This  was  the  sad  and  sudden 
intelligence  which  was  telegraphed  by  Groenning  at  Rajah- 
mundry to  Schmidt  at  Kotagiri,  and  cabled  by  the  latter  from 
Madras  to  America. 

Saturday,  June  8,  1889,  had  been  an  exceptionally  hot  day. 
The  thermometer  registered  150  degrees  in  the  sun  at  noon. 
Dietrich  was  busily  engaged  at  Dowlaishwaram  superintend- 
ing the  laying  of  the  foundation  of  the  new  bungalow.  He 
worked  in  the  hot  sun  all  day  long.  Robust  and  strong,  he 
believed  he  could  endure  as  much  as  the  natives.1  Tired 
and  overheated,  he  lay  down  on  the  little  verandah  of  the 
catechist's  house  to  rest  for  the  night.  While  he  slept  the 
monsoon  broke  over  the  land  with  cyclonic  force.  The 
rain  fell  in  torrents.  The  temperature  dropped  many  de- 
grees. At  midnight  Dietrich  awoke  chilled  and  wet  through 
and  through.  He  called  his  catechist  who  helped  him  to  a 
chair  from  which  he  fell  in  a  swoon.  The  symptoms  at  once 
became  so  alarming  that  Groenning  was  summoned  from 
Rajahmundry.  Although  it  was  Whitsunday,  Groenning 
came,  leaving  Pastor  Paulus  who  happened  to  be  in  Rajah- 
mundry, in  charge  of  the  services.  Dietrich  was  removed 
to  Groenning's  home  in  Rajahmundry,  and  the  assistant 
surgeon  was  called  in.  He  diagnosed  the  case  as  not  seri- 
ous and  said  that  the  patient  would  be  quite  well  again 
after  a  few  days'  rest.  Dietrich  seemed  to  improve  under 
medical  treatment;  but  suddenly,  on  the  morning  of  the  nth 
of  June,  his  temperature  rose  to  107  degrees,  and  before  noon 
he  passed  away.  Because  the  city  officials  insisted  on  it,  his 
body  was  buried  before  sun-down  in  the  mission  cemetery. 
Pastor  Paulus  conducted  the  service  in  the  church  and 
Groenning  at  the  grave. 

1  Groenning  wrote  that  he  was  prone  to  take  risks.  If  the  house-boat  was 
not  handy,  he  would  travel  in  an  ordinary  radari  boat.  If  he  happened  to  be 
travelling  without  a  tent,  he  would  sleep  over  night  under  a  tree  like  the  natives. 


THE    HAND    OF    DEATH    (1888-89)  259 

Dietrich  was  a  missionary  in  India  only  six  and  one-half 
years.  Endowed  with  an  even  temperament,  sturdy  health 
and  a  happy  disposition,  it  seemed  as  though  he  were  emi- 
nently fitted  to  endure  the  hardships  of  the  climate  and  of  the 
mission  work  in  India.  Groenning  described  him  as  a  gen- 
erous, affectionate,  sociable,  contented  and  cheerful  man,  a 
noble  friend,  a  faithful  counsellor,  an  indefatigable  worker. 
His  affectionate  and  cheerful  voice  and  manner  won  the 
hearts,  especially  of  the  children;  his  earnestness  impressed 
the  young  men,  especially  the  Brahmins.  The  high  esteem  in 
which  he  was  held  was  shown  by  the  fact  that  wherever  the 
physician  who  attended  him  went,  he  had  to  answer  solicitous 
inquiries  concerning  the  sick  missionary.  He  died  unmarried; 
but  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  engaged  to  be  married  to 
a  young  lady  who  was  a  member  of  Holy  Trinity  Church  of 
Philadelphia,  and  was  looking  forward  to  her  coming  to  India, 
and  the  completion  of  the  Dowlaishwaram  bungalow  in  which 
they  were  to  live. 

The  Foreign  Missions  Committee  adopted  the  following 
minute  on  his  death:  "Information  of  the  death  of  our  late 
missionary,  the  Rev.  F.  S.  Dietrich,  awakened  in  the  Com- 
mittee on  Foreign  Missions  a  sense  of  profound  sorrow;  and 
whilst  we  humbly  bow  to  the  Divine  Will  that  has  taken 
him  to  his  rest  and  his  reward,  we  shall  long  lament  our  loss 
and  the  loss  the  Mission  has  sustained  in  his  departure. 
We  cherish  with  fondness  and  gratitude  to  God  the  memory 
of  the  excellent  traits  that  marked  him  as  a  man,  and  of  the 
happy  endowments  which  he  exemplified  as  a  Christian  mis- 
sionary. His  agreeable  manners,  his  studious  habits,  his 
unaffected  sincerity,  the  earnestness  and  purity  of  his  heart, 
and  his  devout  consecration  to  the  service  of  our  Lord,  were 
known  and  seen  of  all  men  who  moved  within  the  sphere  of 
his  companionship  in  his  native  land.  His  missionary  life 
was  a  growth  that  developed  itself  into  a  correct  apprecia- 
tion of  the  needs  of  the  heathen  and  of  the  best  methods  for 
meeting  them;  in  an  enterprise  of  spirit  that  was  at  once 
varied  and  successful;  in  an  activity  that  never  tired;  in  a 
hope  that  was  always  rejoicing;  and  in  plentifully  sowing  the 


260       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

good  seed  of  the  Word,  that  will  bear  fruit  unto  eternal 
life." 

After  Dietrich's  death  McCready  took  charge  of  the  Samul- 
kot  district  in  addition  to  his  work  in  the  Tallapudi  district; 
Schmidt,  besides  his  other  work,  continued  the  building  of 
the  Dowlaishwaram  bungalow;  Groenning,  in  addition  to  his 
school  work,  took  charge  of  the  Dowlaishwaram  congrega- 
tion and  the  Jegurupad  district.  Moreover,  Groenning  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  municipal  board  of  Rajahmundry, 
and  during  the  absence  of  its  chairman  he  assumed  the  duties 
of  that  office.  He  also  was  a  member  of  the  Local  Fund 
Board. 

Scarcely  had  the  Church  at  home  recovered  from  its  bereave- 
ment over  the  loss  of  Missionary  Dietrich,  when  the  news  of 
another  death  reached  it.  Groenning  died  even  more  suddenly 
than  Dietrich.  Mrs.  Groenning  communicated  the  sad  in- 
telligence as  follows:  "On  the  ninth  of  July  my  dearly  be- 
loved husband,  William  Groenning,  fell  asleep.  In  firm 
faith  and  with  a  clear  confession  he  went  home  to  his  Saviour. 
The  cholera  took  him  off  in  a  day." 

On  July  7,  1889,  Groenning  had  preached  at  Dowlaishwaram 
and  baptized  six  persons.  The  next  day  he  signed  an  ordi- 
nance, as  acting  chairman  of  the  municipality  of  Rajahmun- 
dry, directing  that  certain  measures  be  carried  out  to  prevent 
the  spread  of  cholera,  which  had  broken  out  in  the  city.  He 
personally  directed  the  work  of  scavengers  as  they  filled  up  a 
hole  in  his  yard  with  refuse  gathered  from  the  city.  Here  he 
must  have  contracted  the  dreaded  disease.  Monday  afternoon 
he  became  very  ill.  By  seven  in  the  evening  all  the  symptoms 
pointed  to  cholera.  Without  having  removed  his  clothing 
he  lay  on  a  couch  in  his  home,  while  the  physicians  fought 
the  disease.  At  half-past  ten  on  Tuesday  morning,  July  Qth, 
he  died  in  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ.1 

1  Schmidt  wrote  of  this  sad  event  as  follows:  "I  repeated  a  stanza  of  a  pre- 
cious hymn,  which  speaks  of  Jesus  as  His  people's  strength,  through  Whom  they 
are  more  than  conquerors,  because  He  redeemed  them  with  His  precious  blood. 
Then  Mr.  Groenning  said  to  his  wife,  'If  I  die,  go  to  your  home  soon.  Tell  our 
friends  in  Germany  that  I  hope  to  meet  them  in  a  better  world;  to-day  is  the 
anniversary  of  my  mother's  death.'  I  could  not,  as  yet,  yield  to  the  thought 
that  his  end  was  approaching,  and  said,  'You  may  get  well  again.  The  Lord 


THE   HAND    OF   DEATH    (1888-89)  261 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  his  body  was  interred  by 
the  side  of  that  of  his  brother  Charles,  who  had  died  of  the 
same  disease  in  Rajahmundry,  as  a  child,  in  1865.  "Crushed," 
said  Schmidt,  "we  all  stood  around  the  grave.  Our  Mission 
had  lost  a  force  the  like  of  which  we  never  had  before  and 
may  not  soon  have  again." 

The  Foreign  Missions  Committee  paid  him  a  very  high 
tribute.  "In  the  sudden  and  unexpected  death  of  our  dear 
brother,"  reads  the  minute,  "we  experienced  the  heaviest  blow 
which  our  Mission  has  ever  suffered.  ...  In  the  few  years 
during  which  in  God's  providence  he  was  permitted  to  work  in 
our  Mission,  particularly  as  superintendent  of  our  educational 
institution,  he  had  done  most  noble  and  effective  service  in  all 
faithfulness  and  conscientiousness,  with  a  clear  insight  into 
the  character  of  the  work,  with  great  energy  and  unselfish 
devotion  to  our  Mission,  the  fruits  of  which  we  may  hope  to 
reap  in  coming  years." 

Mrs.  Groenning  left  Rajahmundry  for  Bremen  on  August 
22d.  Before  leaving,  at  a  farewell  service  in  St.  Paul's  Church, 
a  boy  handed  her  a  bag  containing  50  rupees  as  a  gift  of  love 
and  esteem  on  the  part  of  the  native  Christians. 

Before  the  news  of  Groenning's  death  had  reached  the 
Foreign  Missions  Committee  the  Rev.  Emanuel  Edman,  M.D., 
had  volunteered  to  take  the  place  of  Dietrich  and  had  been 
accepted. 

Emanuel  Edman,  the  eleventh  foreign  missionary  of  the 
General  Council,  was  born  in  Sweden  in  1857.  While  pastor 
of  the  Swedish  Lutheran  Church  in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  he 
studied  medicine  for  three  years.  He  then  went  to  Prince- 
may  yet  restore  you.  Do  you  trust  in  Him,  that  He  will  do  all  things  right? ' 
'  Yes,  He  will  do  all  things  right,'  was  the  dying  man's  reply.  Mrs.  Groenning 
then  repeated  Psalm  23  :  4,  and  asked  him,  'Is  your  Saviour  with  you?'  'Yes,' 
said  he,  'yes,  He  has  redeemed  me;  that  is  my  faith  and  my  comfort.  For  me 
to  die  is  gain,  salvation — salvation!'  While  suffering  from  the  cramp  and  the 
difficulty  of  breathing,  he  said,  'He  was  more  patient  when  He  died  for  us.' 
When  Mrs.  Groenning  began,  saying,  'I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life; 
he  that  believeth  in  me' — Mr.  Groenning  continued,  'shall  never  come  into 
condemnation,'  and  Mrs.  Groenning  finished  the  sentence,  'but  has  passed 
from  death  to  life.'  After  Mrs.  Groenning  had  repeated  the  verse,  'I  have 
loved  thee  with  an  everlasting  love;  therefore  with  lovingkindness  have  I  drawn 
thee,'  Mr.  Groenning  replied,  saying,  'Abba,  Father.'" 


262       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

ton,  III.,  and  from  that  place  he  was  called  to  go  to  India  as  a 
missionary.  He  was  commissioned  on  the  evening  of  October 
10,  1889,  in  the  First  Church,  Pittsburgh,  in  connection  with 
the  convention  of  the  General  Council.  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Edman 
with  their  little  daughter  sailed  from  New  York  on  October 
1 6th,  visited  Sweden  and  arrived  at  Rajahmundry  on  January 
18,  1890. 

Early  in  July,  just  before  Groenning's  death,  the  Rev. 
E.  Pohl  started  from  Salur  in  India,  where  he  had  been  at 
work  as  a  missionary  of  the  Schleswig-Holstein  (Breklum) 
Missionary  Society  for  seven  years,  to  bring  two  boys  to 
the  Anglo-vernacular  School  in  Rajahmundry  to  be  trained 
by  his  former  teacher,  Groenning,  to  be  Christian  workers. 
He  arrived  at  his  destination  to  find  Groenning  dead  and 
buried.  His  presence  in  Rajahmundry,  however,  at  once 
directed  the  attention  of  Schmidt  to  him  as  a  most  suita- 
ble person  to  take  Groenning's  place  and  carry  Groenning's 
plans  of  educational  work  to  completion.  Pohl  expressed 
his  willingness  to  undertake  the  task,  provided  his  Society 
gave  its  permission.  The  Foreign  Missions  Committee  seized 
the  opportunity  thus  offered  and  was  overjoyed  to  receive  a 
communication  from  Inspector  Fiensch  of  Breklum,  in  which 
he  said,  among  other  things:  "Groenning's  death  caused  us 
deep  sorrow,  and  we  are  very  much  concerned  about  the  sad 
plight  of  your  Mission.  We  rejoice  in  our  fellowship  with 
you  who  are  of  the  same  faith  and  confession  with  us.  More- 
over, our  Mission  has  received  from  your  missionaries  many 
evidences  of  love  and  help.  The  American  Lutheran  Missions 
must  serve  as  the  binder  for  the  Missions  north  and  south  of 
them  on  the  eastern  coast  of  India.  We  cannot  allow  them 
to  be  separated  by  a  wedge  of  the  Baptist  sectarians.  What- 
ever we  can  do  to  avoid  this,  we  will  do  out  of  love  for  our  dear 
Lutheran  Church,  our  common  mother." 

The  agreement  was  that  the  Breklum  Society  should  loan 
to  the  Rajahmundry  Mission  the  service  of  Mr.  Pohl  for  a 
period  of  one  year,  and  that  Mr.  Pohl's  travelling  expenses 
to  Rajahmundry  and  his  salary  of  $1000  should  be  paid  into 
the  treasury  of  the  Breklum  Society.  It  was  understood,  how- 


THE    HAND    OF    DEATH    (1888-89) 

ever,  that  Pohl  would  be  subject  to  the  control  of  the  Foreign 
Missions  Committee  under  the  Rules  and  Regulations  of  its 
Telugu  Mission. 

Pohl  began  his  work  at  Rajahmundry  on  November  12, 
1889,  moving  into  the  bungalow  in  the  church  compound, 
and  taking  charge  at  once  of  the  school,  in  which  he  taught 
two  or  three  hours  a  day.  He  also  preached  at  the  Telugu 
services  in  St.  Paul's  Church  and  in  Dowlaishwaram  when- 
ever Schmidt  needed  a  substitute.  He  tried  to  carry  out  the 
plans  of  Groenning  in  the  educational  work,  and  concen- 
trated his  efforts  on  making  the  Anglo-vernacular  School  a 
training-school  for  the  education  of  native  agents. 

In  1889  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  fixed  on  a  schedule 
of  salaries  to  be  paid  the  missionaries,  which  was  adopted  by 
the  General  Council  in  session  at  Pittsburgh  that  year.  This 
schedule,  which  is  still  in  force,  is  as  follows: 

For  an  unmarried  man,  unacquainted  with  the  language, 
for  the  first  two  years'  residence  in  India,  $600  a  year.  For 
a  married  man  in  the  same  position  and  for  same  time,  $800 
a  year. 

For  an  unmarried  man  from  the  third  to  the  fifth  year  of 
his  residence  in  India,  inclusive,  $700  a  year.  For  a  married 
man  for  the  same  time,  $900  a  year. 

For  an  unmarried  man  from  the  sixth  to  the  tenth  year  of 
his  residence  hi  India,  inclusive,  $800  a  year.  For  a  married 
man  for  the  same  time,  $1000  a  year. 

For  an  unmarried  man  after  ten  years'  residence  in  India, 
$1000  a  year.  For  a  married  man  for  the  same  time,  $1200 
a  year. 

In  December,  1889,  the  Rev.  F.  W.  Weiskotten  succeeded 
the  Rev.  F.  Wischan  as  the  editor  of  the  "Missionsbote." 
The  latter  had  ably  edited  this  paper  for  twelve  years  and  had 
increased  the  number  of  its  subscribers  to  18,000.  The  ac- 
counts had  shown  an  annual  balance,  and  each  year  a  surplus 
could  be  turned  into  the  treasury  of  the  Committee.1 

1  The  total  amount  paid  over  by  the  "Missionsbote"  into  the  treasury  of 
The  Foreign  Missions  Committee  during  the  years  1886-89  was  $855.80.  The 
Foreign  Missions  Committee  extended  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wischan 
for  "his  earnest  and  faithful  labors  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  foreign  missions." 


264       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

The  Rev.  C.  G.  Fischer,  who  had  faithfully  served  as  the 
business  agent  of  the  "Missionsbote"  and  "The  Foreign 
Missionary,"  and  whose  compensation  for  this  work  had  been 
only  $100  a  year,  was  succeeded  in  this  office  by  the  Rev.  H. 
Grahn  on  December  i,  1889. 

Up  to  this  time  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  had  used 
a  room  in  the  Theological  Seminary  on  Franklin  Square, 
Philadelphia,  as  its  place  of  meeting,  but  the  removal  of  the 
Seminary  to  Mt.  Airy  obliged  it  to  seek  another  place.  After 
meeting  a  number  of  times  in  the  vestry  room  of  Zion's 
Church,  it  received  and  accepted  an  invitation  in  November, 
1889,  to  hold  all  of  its  meetings  in  the  Mary  J.  Drexel  Home 
and  Motherhouse  of  Deaconesses  in  Philadelphia. 


CHARLOTTE   SWENSON 


KATE    L.    SADTLER 


BETTY   A.   NILSSON 


AGNES   I.    SCHADE 


LYDIA    WOERNER 


AMY    I?.    ROIIRER 


WOMEN    MISSIONARIES 


"THE   ZENANA  HOME" 
First    residence    built    at    Rajahmundry    for    women    missionaries. 


A   CANAL   SCENE   IN   THE   GODAVERY    DISTRICT 


CHAPTER  XI 

WOMAN  MISSIONARIES   (1890-91) 

As  the  work  of  a  foreign  mission  develops  it  becomes  more 
complex.  New  departments  of  work  are  added  and  new  insti- 
tutions are  founded.  The  district  mission  work  is  augmented 
by  educational  and  philanthropic  efforts  for  the  improvement 
of  the  mental  and  material  as  well  as  the  moral  and  spiritual 
welfare  of  the  converts  to  Christianity.  Primarily  and  funda- 
mentally, mission  work  is  the  preaching  and  teaching  of  the 
truth  of  the  Word  of  God,  in  order  that  the  heathen  may  be 
converted  from  their  idols  to  the  worship  and  service  of  the 
One,  True,  Living  God,  the  Triune  God,  the  Father,  Son  and 
Holy  Spirit.  Nevertheless,  such  preaching  and  teaching  leads 
inevitably  to  the  establishment  of  institutions  and  depart- 
ments of  work  which,  though  subordinate  to  the  primary 
purpose  of  the  Mission,  are  essential  to  its  growth  and  de- 
velopment in  every  direction. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  establishment  of  congregations 
is  the  establishment  of  schools  for  the  education  of  the  children 
of  converts  in  the  knowledge  of  the  principles  and  practice 
of  the  truths  of  Christianity,  and  in  such  branches  of  secular 
knowledge  as  will  fit  them  to  be  intelligent  and  useful  citizens. 
Such  mission  schools  also  serve  the  purpose  of  bringing 
children  of  heathen  parents  under  the  influence  of  the  Gospel, 
and  of  reaching,  to  some  degree  at  least,  the  parents  of  such 
children.  The  educational  program  of  every  mission,  further- 
more, must  include  institutions  for  the  training  of  native 
converts  for  work  in  the  mission  as  teachers,  evangelists, 
catechists  and  pastors.  Some  missions  believe  that  they  must 
also  maintain  High  Schools  and  Colleges,  but  the  existence 
of  such  schools  of  higher  learning  is  justifiable  only  when  the 
management  and  staff  of  the  school  is  distinctly  Christian. 

265 


266       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Institutions  of  mercy,  such  as  hospitals,  dispensaries,  or- 
phans' homes  and  asylums  of  various  kinds  often  become 
auxiliary  departments  of  mission  work  in  its  developed  stages. 

Mission  work  in  India  calls  for  a  large  number  of  trained 
native  workers.  On  them  depend  the  character  and  growth  of 
the  Mission.  The  foreign  missionary  who  increases  the  number 
and  efficiency  of  his  native  Christian  assistants  is  making  the 
best  possible  contribution  to  the  success  of  the  Mission. 

The  lowest  grade  of  native  Christian  workers  in  a  mission 
in  India,  apart  from  the  Bible  colporteur,  is  the  village  school- 
teacher. It  is  his  duty  to  teach  the  children  of  the  Christians 
of  his  village  and  such  children  of  heathen  parents  as  may  be 
sent  to  his  school  the  elementary  branches  of  secular  knowl- 
edge required  by  the  government,  and,  above  all  things,  to 
impart  such  Biblical  knowledge  as  he  may  be  able  to  teach 
and  the  children  may  be  able  to  learn.  He  is  also,  as  a  rule, 
the  lay-preacher  for  the  Christians  of  the  village  in  which  he 
resides;  and  sometimes  he  is  placed  in  charge  of  a  number  of 
villages.  He  conducts  the  Sunday  and  mid-week  services, 
prepares  the  inquirers  for  adult  baptism  and  the  catechumens 
for  confirmation  by  the  foreign  missionary.  His  immediate 
superior  is  the  catechist  of  his  circle,  to  whom  he  reports,  and 
who,  in  turn,  is  responsible  to  the  foreign  missionary  for  a 
given  circle  of  ten  or  more  villages.  The  evangelist  who,  also, 
is  subject  to  the  direction  of  the  catechist  under  the  foreign 
missionary,  works  in  new  and  unoccupied  villages,  preaching 
and  conversing  with  non- Christians  in  order  to  bring  them  to 
Christ.  The  extension  of  the  mission  depends  to  a  large 
extent  on  the  work  of  the  evangelists. 

The  foreign  missionary  who  is  in  charge  of  a  district  visits 
the  villages  of  his  district  in  which  Christians  or  inquirers 
reside  and  in  which  schools  are  conducted,  as  often  as  possible 
each  year.  If  his  work  lies  along  the  river  or  canal,  he  uses  a 
house-boat,  furnished  by  the  mission;  if  he  must  travel  over- 
land, he  uses  a  horse  or  a  bullock-cart  and  takes  with  him  a 
tent  and  such  utensils,  provisions  and  servants  as  may  be 
necessary  for  the  journey.  From  some  central  point,  where 
the  boat  is  moored  or  the  tent  is  pitched,  he  goes  to  sur- 


WOMAN    MISSIONARIES    (1890-91)  267 

rounding  villages  on  foot  or,  sometimes,  on  a  bicycle  or  a 
pony.  He  is  generally  accompanied  by  the  catechist  of  the 
circle  in  which  he  is  working  at  the  time  and  by  one  or 
more  native  assistants.  Where  there  is  no  native  pastor, 
he  performs  all  the  ministerial  acts,  examines  the  school 
children,  the  catechumens  and  inquirers,  and  baptizes  or 
confirms  them,  if  found  to  be  properly  prepared;  he  adminis- 
ters the  Holy  Supper  to  the  communicants  and  exercises 
whatever  discipline  may  be  called  for  in  a  congregation;  he 
directs  the  work  of  the  school-teachers  and  other  native 
Christian  helpers,  whose  employment,  dismissal  or  transfer 
lies  in  his  hands;  and,  as  time  and  opportunity  are  given 
him,  he  preaches  to  the  heathen.  This  district  work  is, 
therefore,  partly  pastoral  and  partly  evangelistic. 

Besides  ordained  foreign  missionaries,  woman  missionaries 
are  also  employed  in  almost  every  mission  in  India,  because 
of  the  peculiar  position  of  women  in  India.  Many  of  these 
are  confined  in  zenanas  or  women's  apartments,  which  they 
are  not  permitted  to  leave  unless  accompanied  by  some  male 
member  of  the  household,  and  to  which  no  man  outside  of 
the  household  is  admitted.  The  only  way  to  reach  these 
zenana  women  is  through  woman  missionaries,  who  may 
enter  the  zenanas  to  instruct  them  and  their  children.  Usu- 
ally a  Bible-class  is  formed  in  each  zenana,  and  one  or  more 
hours  of  instruction  are  given  each  week.  Besides  the  religious 
instruction,  the  woman  missionary  may  undertake  to  teach 
the  zenana  women  and  children  sewing,  needle-work,  English, 
Telugu  or  music,  in  order  to  gain  and  hold  their  attention. 

Associated  with  this  zenana  work  are  the  Hindu  Girls' 
schools,  sometimes  called  Caste  Girls'  schools,  because,  at 
first,  outcast  children  were  not  allowed  to  attend  them. 

Medical  work  for  women  and  children  is  another  depart- 
ment in  which  woman  missionaries  are  engaged.  This  work 
calls  for  hospitals  and  dispensaries  for  women  and  children, 
and  for  visits  to  private  homes  to  attend  patients.  Daily 
devotional  exercises  are  conducted  in  the  various  institu- 
tions of  this  department,  and  Sunday  schools  are  established 
for  the  caste  children  who  can  be  induced  to  come. 


268       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

In  the  zenana  and  medical  work  native  Christian  women 
are  employed  as  so-called  Bible-women  to  assist  the  woman 
missionaries  in  teaching  the  classes  or  as  nurses. 

For  the  higher  education  of  Christian  girls,  Central  Schools, 
in  charge  of  woman  missionaries,  are  established,  usually  with 
a  Normal  Training  Department  to  fit  some  of  the  pupils  for 
work  as  village  school-teachers.  These  Central  Schools  are 
boarding  schools,  and  their  primary  object  is  to  raise  the 
standard  of  the  education  of  the  Christian  women. 

Where  industrial  work  is  carried  on  in  a  mission,  it  aims 
to  furnish  converts  with  a  means  of  livelihood  or,  at  least, 
with  some  opportunity  to  improve  their  time  and  their  con- 
dition in  life  by  remunerative  occupation. 

The  credit  of  having  begun  women's  missionary  work  in 
Rajahmundry  is  due  to  Mrs.  Schmidt  and  Mrs.  Artman,  when, 
in  1 88 1,  they  started  to  teach  a  class  of  zenana  women  in 
the  home  of  the  munsiff  Narasimham.  Then  in  January, 
1882,  Mrs.  Schmidt  began  the  Hindu  Girls'  School  at  River- 
dale.  In  1884,  after  her  husband's  death,  Mrs.  Artman  took 
full  charge  of  the  zenana  work  and  the  Hindu  Girls'  School, 
as  the  first  salaried  woman  missionary  in  the  service  of  the 
General  Council.  The  wives  of  the  other  missionaries  also 
rendered  some  assistance  in  teaching  the  boarding  boys  and 
girls  to  sew;  and,  as  early  as  1878,  Mrs.  Schmidt  had  begun  the 
industrial  work  of  lace-making  with  the  older  girls  in  the 
boarding  school. 

The  question  of  sending  woman  missionaries  to  labor  by  the 
side  of  the  ordained  missionaries  and  their  wives  was  first 
raised  in  December,  1879,  when  Mrs.  Emma  Victoria  von 
Noxendorf  offered  her  service  to  the  Foreign  Missions  Com- 
mittee; but  the  Committee  replied  as  follows:  "Resolved, 
That  the  Rev.  Dr.  A.  Spaeth,  chairman  of  the  Committee, 
inform  her  that  we  have  not  yet  progressed  far  enough  in 
our  school  work  to  send  out  a  woman  teacher,  but  hope  to 
be  able  to  do  so  at  some  future  time." 

Ten  years  later  a  similar  application  was  received  from  Miss 
Agnes  I.  Schade,  then  a  teacher  in  the  Orphans'  Farm  School 


WOMAN   MISSIONARIES    (1890-91)  269 

at  Zelienople,  Pa.  Still  the  Committee  hesitated.  The  mis- 
sionaries on  the  field  were  asked  for  their  opinion  and  unan- 
imously declared  in  favor  of  sending  a  single  lady  as  a  woman 
missionary.  The  Committee,  however,  decided  to  delay  the 
matter  until  it  had  ascertained  the  mind  of  the  Church  at 
home.  In  an  editorial  in  the  May,  1890,  issue  of  "The  Foreign 
Missionary"  every  friend  of  the  Mission  was  invited  to  write 
on  a  postal  card  his  or  her  view  of  the  matter  of  sending  out 
woman  missionaries.  All  of  the  replies  received  favored  the 
undertaking.  Meanwhile  Miss  Kate  S.  Sadtler,  daughter  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  B.  Sadtler,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  also  volunteered 
to  serve  in  the  India  Mission  as  a  woman  missionary.  Finally, 
at  its  meeting  in  June,  1890,  the  Committee  resolved  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  to  begin  zenana  work,  and  called  Miss 
Agnes  I.  Schade  and  Miss  Kate  S.  Sadtler  "as  assistants  in 
the  mission  work  in  India."1 

After  the  Committee  had  called  its  first  woman  missionaries, 
it  published  and  distributed  the  following  circular: 

11  To  the  Members  of  our  Ladies'  and  Dorcas  Societies: 

"At  the  last  convention  of  the  Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania 
it  was  unanimously  resolved  that  the  pastors  of  the  Minis- 
terium be  instructed  to  call  the  attention  of  their  congrega- 
tions, and  particularly  of  the  Dorcas  and  Ladies'  societies, 
to  the  fact  that  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  of  the 
General  Council  is  about  to  undertake  the  establishment  of  a 
zenana  mission  among  the  Telugus,  and  that  the  special  in- 
terest and  co-operation  of  our  devout  women  in  this  work  is 
solicited.  There  was  also  a  full  report  of  the  committee  on 
Woman's  Work  in  the  Church,  received  by  the  Synod  and 
referred  to  the  Conferences  for  consideration,  in  which  the 
organization  of  women's  missionary  societies  under  the  con- 
trol and  direction  of  the  Ministerium  and  congregations,  in 
which  such  societies  exist,  is  strongly  recommended. 

"The  undersigned  Foreign  Missions  Committee  of  the 
General  Council  takes  the  liberty  to  call  the  attention  of  our 

1  The  salary  of  a  single  lady  sent  out  as  a  woman  missionary  was  fixed  at 
$500  a  year;  $100  were  allowed  for  an  outfit.  Miss  Sadtler,  however,  provided 
her  outfit  at  her  own  expense. 


270       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Dorcas  and  Ladies'  societies  to  the  action  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Synod  and  solicit,  through  the  kind  assistance  of  their  respec- 
tive pastors,  their  hearty  and  prompt  co-operation. 

"The  word  'zenana'  is  used  by  the  Hindus  to  designate  that 
part  of  the  house,  particularly  among  the  wealthy  classes, 
which  is  assigned  to  the  female  members  of  the  household— 
the  wives,  mothers  and  daughters  of  the  Hindu  families.  As 
throughout  the  Orient,  so  in  India  also,  this  part  of  the  dwell- 
ing is  considered  the  most  secluded  and  inaccessible,  to  which 
no  stranger  and,  above  all,  no  man,  is  ever  admitted.  Zenana 
Mission,  then,  in  general  designates  that  mission  work  which 
is  carried  on  in  the  zenana;  but  how  can  the  Gospel  ever 
enter  these  places  if  no  missionary  or  evangelist,  no  minister 
of  the  Gospel,  is  ever  admitted  into  them,  and  the  inmates 
are  forbidden  to  meet  with  the  Christians  in  their  preaching 
stations  and  churches?  The  importance  of  reaching  these 
sanctuaries  of  the  family  life  with  the  regenerating  influences 
of  the  Gospel  will  not  be  denied  by  any  one,  for  in  India,  as 
well  as  in  America,  England  or  Germany,  the  nursery  is  the 
place  from  which  the  whole  life  of  the  nation  grows  out  to  its 
future  development.  .  .  . 

"In  one  of  the  last  meetings  of  our  Foreign  Missions  Com- 
mittee of  the  General  Council,  held  at  the  Mary  J.  Drexel 
Home  and  Motherhouse  of  Deaconesses,  Philadelphia,  the 
resolution  was  unanimously  passed  that,  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  we  undertake  the  establishment  of  a  zenana  mission  in 
Rajahmundry;  and  Miss  Kate  Sadtler  and  Miss  Agnes  Schade 
were  called  to  go  out  as  the  first  laborers  sent  by  our  Com- 
mittee in  this  field.  Both  have  accepted  the  call,  and  on  the 
sixteenth  of  October  we  expect  to  hold  a  solemn  service  in 
St.  John's  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  Race  Street,  be- 
tween Fifth  and  Sixth  Streets, .  Philadelphia,  and  send  them 
out  with  our  prayers  and  benediction  to  their  distant  field  of 
labor. 

"On  the  day  following,  at  2.30  p.  M.,  we  propose  that  a  Con- 
ference be  held  at  St.  John's  Church,  of  ladies  delegated  by 
the  Dorcas,  Ladies'  and  Missionary  Societies  of  our  congrega- 
tions in  and  around  Philadelphia — say,  three  from  each  con- 


WOMAN    MISSIONARIES    (1890-91)  271 

gregation — to  take  into  consideration  what  could  be  done  by 
the  harmonious  and  simultaneous  action  of  these  different 
societies  toward  the  support  of  our  zenana  work  in  India  and, 
if  possible,  to  organize  a  general  society  in  aid  of  this  particular 
mission  branch.  The  ladies  of  the  Lehigh  Valley1  have  shown 
to  the  Church  how  much  can  be  accomplished  by  the  united 
and  hearty  co-operation  of  our  devout  women.  Let  those  of 
the  city  of  brotherly  love  not  stand  back.  Come  to  the  service 
and  remember  in  your  prayers  the  sisters  who  are  to  go  out 
to  Rajahmundry.  Come  to  the  Conference.  Let  us  have  a 
full  discussion  of  this  subject  of  woman's  work.  Let  us 
organize  it  and  carry  it  forth  in  humble  faith  and  unremitting 
devotion.  Surely  the  Lord  will  be  with  us  and  establish  the 
work  of  our  hands  for  His  Name's  sake. 

THE  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  COMMITTEE." 

Agnes  I.  Schade,  daughter  of  Michael  Schade  and  his  wife 
Justina  nee  Klotz,  was  born  at  Water  Cure,  Pa.  When  she 
was  six  years  of  age  her  parents  moved  to  Monaca  on  the 
Ohio  River,  thirty  miles  from  Pittsburgh.  After  a  public 
school  education  she  entered  the  State  Normal  School  at 
Millersville,  Pa.,  from  which  she  was  graduated  in  1886. 
In  1889  she  became  a  teacher  in  the  school  connected  with  the 
Orphans'  Home  at  Zelionople,  Pa.  In  June,  1890,  she  was 
formally  called  by  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  to  go 
to  India  as  a  woman  missionary. 

Katharine  S.  Sadtler,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
Benjamin  Sadtler,2  D.  D.,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  was  born  at 
Shippensburg,  Pa.  During  her  early  childhood  her  parents 
moved  to  Easton,  Pa.,  where  her  father  served  as  the  pastor 
of  St.  John's  Church.  In  1862  her  father  became  the  Principal 
of  the  Lutherville  Female  Seminary,  from  which  she  was 
graduated.  In  1889  her  cousin,  Miss  Amy  Sadtler,  offered 

1  At  the  call  of  the  Rev.  C.  J.  Cooper,  D.  D.,  and  under  the  leadership  of 
Mrs.  E.  Pfatteicher,  Mrs.  R.  A.  Diehl,  Mrs.  J.  A.  Bauman  and  others,  the 
Women's  Missionary  Society  of  the  Second  or  Allentown  Conference  was  or- 
ganized in  March,  1885,  in  St.  Peter's  Church.  South  Bethlehem. 

2  The  Rev.  B.  M.  Schmucker,  D.  D.,  the  secretary  of  the  Foreign  Missions 
Committee,  was  Miss  Sadtler's  uncle. 


272       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

her  services  as  a  woman  missionary  to  the  Foreign  Mission 
Board  of  the  General  Synod  and  was  accepted.  This  revived 
an  old  desire  within  her  to  serve  in  the  General  Council's 
Mission  in  India,  in  which  she  had  become  deeply  interested 
after  a  visit  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  C.  Schmidt  at  her 
father's  house  during  the  summer  of  1885.  She  was  accepted 
and  called  by  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  of  the  General 
Council  at  the  same  time  Miss  Schade  was  called,  on  June  9, 
1890. 

The  commissioning  service  for  these  two  zenana  sisters1 
was  held  on  the  evening  of  October  16,  1890,  in  St.  John's 
Church,  Philadelphia.  The  Rev.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  Chairman 
of  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee,  in  delivering  the  charge, 
said:  "I  ask  you,  dear  sisters  in  the  Lord,  are  you  willing 
and  ready  to  go  out  as  helpers  in  our  Mission  and  to  give  your- 
selves wholly  to  this  service,  into  which  you  now  enter,  for 
Jesus'  sake,  who  loved  you  and  gave  himself  for  you?"  To 
this  question  the  sisters  responded,  saying,  "Yes,  I  will  by 
the  help  of  God."  Thereupon  the  Rev.  Dr.  Spaeth  took  the 
hand  of  each  one,  and  said:  "God,  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Ghost,  bless,  protect  and  sanctify  you  in  your  service,  filling 
you  with  faith,  wisdom,  love  and  humility,  to  serve  Him  to 
the  honor  of  His  Holy  Name  and  the  good  of  His  Holy  Church. 
Amen."  Appropriate  passages  of  Holy  Scripture  were  recited 
in  German  by  the  Rev.  H.  Grahn,  D.  D.,  and  in  English  by 
the  Rev.  William  Ashmead  Schaeffer,  D.  D.,  and  during  the 
prayer  of  commissioning  the  sisters  knelt  before  the  altar. 

The  next  day  the  woman  missionaries-elect  left  for  New 
York,  where  the  Rev.  G.  F.  Krotel,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  Holy 
Trinity  Church,  had  arranged  with  the  women  of  his  congre- 
gation for  an  informal  farewell  meeting. 

As  arranged,  the  women  of  the  Lutheran  congregations  of 
Philadelphia  and  its  vicinity  met  on  October  lyth,  the  day 
after  the  commissioning,  to  organize  a  Women's  Missionary 
Society.  Ninety  women,  representing  fourteen  congregations, 

1  On  the  motion  of  the  Rev.  A.  Cordes,  pastor  of  the  Deaconesses'  Home, 
the  title  of  "zenana  sisters"  was  applied  to  these  woman  missionaries  after 
November,  1891. 


WOMAN    MISSIONARIES    (1890-91)  273 

assembled  in  St.  John's  Church  for  this  purpose.  At  an  ad- 
journed meeting  on  November  i4th  a  constitution  was  adopted 
and  officers  were  elected.1 

The  Misses  Schade  and  Sadtler  sailed  from  New  York 
on  October  i8th,  reached  Colombo  on  December  6th,  Madras 
on  the  nth,  and  Rajahmundry  on  the  2oth  of  December, 
1890. 

During  the  year  1890  Schmidt,  McCready,  Pohl  and  Ed- 
man  carried  on  the  work  of  the  Mission.  At  the  meetings  of 
the  Mission  Conference  and  Council  in  January  of  that 
year,  held  in  Tallapudi,  the  new  church,  though  not  entirely 
completed,  was  consecrated  on  January  8th.  The  bell  had 
been  donated  by  Mrs.  Mary  Hunter  of  New  York,  who  also 
contributed  several  hundred  dollars  toward  the  building  fund. 
About  Rs.  2200,  or  $750,  had  been  secured  by  McCready  from 
friends,  relatives  and  native  Christians  in  India,  and  at  least 
$700  from  friends  in  America. 

Pohl,  as  the  superintendent  of  the  educational  work  in 
Rajahmundry,  proved  to  be  a  worthy  successor  of  the  lamented 
Groenning.  His  mildness  and  gentleness  won  for  him  the 
confidence  and  love  of  his  pupils  and  their  parents;  his  piety 
and  spiritual-mindedness,  their  esteem  and  respect;  his 
ability  as  a  teacher,  their  obedience  and  loyalty. 

The  school  opened  with  an  unusually  large  number  of 
pupils  hi  January,  1890.  An  additional  class,  the  sixth 
standard,  was  organized,  and  the  school  was  awarded  a  govern- 
ment grant.  That  no  change  was  contemplated  or  expected 
in  the  character  of  the  school  as  a  training-school  for  native 
workers,  even  though  financial  aid  was  received  from  the 
government,  is  evident  from  the  following  explanation  of 
the  manager:  "Because  the  preaching  of  the  Cross  and  not 
the  spread  of  scientific  knowledge  is  the  chief  aim  of  the 
Mission,  our  school  is  of  great  importance.  It  is  our  purpose 
to  train  our  Christian  youth  so  that  they  may  be  able  to  sow 

1  The  first  officers  of  the  Women's  Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of 
the  Philadelphia  Conferences  of  the  Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania  were:  Presi- 
dent, Mrs.  Samuel  Laird;  Secretaries,  Mrs.  J.  L.  Sibole,  Mrs.  H.  M.  Vanderslice 
and  Miss  C.  Probst;  Treasurer,  Mrs.  H.  E.  Jacobs. 

18 


274       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

the  good  seed  of  the  kingdom.  We  wish  to  instruct  them  so 
that  they  may  give  a  reason  for  the  hope  that  is  in  them. 
We  are  very  careful  to  make  them  familiar  with  the  precious 
treasures  of  divine  truth  which  the  Lord  has  given  to  our 
Church,  so  that  they  may  hold  up  the  banner  of  our  Con- 
fessions faithfully  unto  the  end.  To  this,  then,  is  added  such 
general  knowledge  as  they  may  be  able  to  gain." 

Pohl  described  the  schoolbuildings  as  well  adapted  to  their 
purpose.  The  main  building  contained  three  smaller  and  four 
larger  rooms,  the  largest  having  been  added  by  Oroenning. 
The  lowest  class,  however,  had  to  meet  on  the  verandah; 
103  boys  and  42  girls  were  enrolled  in  January,  1890.  They 
were  taught  by  six  teachers,  all  but  one  of  whom  were  Chris- 
tians; 95  boys  and  girls  were  housed  in  the  boarding  depart- 
ment, consisting  of  four  small  buildings  in  the  church  com- 
pound, which  were  filled  to  overflowing.  Pohl  furnished  the 
following  interesting  description  of  a  day  in  the  life  of  the 
school : 

"Before  sunrise  the  children,  after  washing,  eat  the  cold 
rice  that  was  left  from  the  supper  of  the  previous  day.  At 
sunrise  the  church  bell  summons  them  for  morning  prayer. 
The  school  begins  at  7  o'clock  and  closes  for  the  morning  at 
11.30.  At  noon  dinner  is  served.  At  2  p.  M.  the  girls  and 
some  of  the  boys  spend  some  time  at  sewing  and  mending 
under  the  direction  of  my  wife.  During  the  afternoon  some 
of  the  children  are  employed  in  sweeping  the  schoolrooms  and 
putting  them  in  order  for  the  next  day.  The  larger  pupils, 
however,  spend  the  hour  from  four  to  five  in  class.  After 
that  comes  the  recreation  hour.  Some  engage  in  gymnastics, 
others  in  some  useful  work  on  the  grounds,  watering  the 
plants,  removing  rubbish,  etc.  Some  go  to  Mr.  Schmidt's 
compound  to  learn  carpentering.  The  girls,  carrying  vessels 
on  their  heads,  hasten  to  the  Godavery  River  to  bring  drink- 
ing-water, filling  up  five  large  vessels  for  the  next  day.  At 
6  o'clock  the  boys  go  to  bathe  in  the  Godavery.  The  evening 
is  spent  in  study  or  singing,  and  evening  prayers  in  the  several 
boarding  houses  close  the  day." 

Soon  after  coming  to  Rajahmundry  Mrs.  Pohl  took  charge 


WOMAN    MISSIONARIES    (1890-91)  275 

of  the  Mohammedan  Girls'  School  which  was  now  called  the 
Artman  Poor  Mohammedan  Girls'  School.  Sarah,  a  Christian, 
assisted  her  by  giving  some  instruction  in  the  Christian  re- 
ligion in  Telugu.  The  teachers  in  the  Hindu  Girls'  School 
were  P.  V.  Ratnam,  Ramachandra  Rao  and  a  Hindu,  while 
Goraza  conducted  the  girls  to  and  from  the  school. 

Edman  and  his  family  at  first  occupied  Mrs.  Taylor's 
bungalow,  which  was  leased  by  the  Mission.  On  June  16, 
1890,  they  moved  to  Samulkot,  Edman  having  been  assigned 
to  that  district. 

Besides  touring  in  the  Velpur  district,  spending  most  of  his 
time  in  and  around  Bhimawaram,  where  within  a  radius  of 
five  miles  over  1000  Christians  resided  and  where  he  planned 
to  build  a  large  church  for  them,  Schmidt  erected  a  house  in 
the  Riverdale  compound,  adjoining  the  Caste  Girls'  School,  for 
use  as  a  printery  and  book-store.  The  latter  enterprise  was 
managed  by  Mrs.  Schmidt  who,  in  1890,  sold  as  many  as  4238 
Bibles,  books  and  pamphlets.  Schmidt  also  began  the  erec- 
tion of  the  so-called  Zenana  Home,  the  residence  of  the  zenana 
sisters,  and  continued  the  building  of  the  Dowlaishwaram 
bungalow. 

On  Pentecost,  1890,  an  unusually  interesting  ceremony 
was  performed  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  when  a  Brahmin,  Jaga- 
natham,  and  a  Mala,  Veera  Emmanuel  Razulu,  were  baptized 
at  the  same  time,  thus  showing  how  Christianity  breaks  down 
the  caste  distinctions. 

The  parochial  reports  for  the  fiscal  year,  ending  June  30, 
1890,  were  summarized  as  follows:1 

Rajahmundiy,  Tallapudi, 

Korukonda.     Jegurupad.         Velpur.      Samulkot.          Totals. 

Villages 6  20  55  19  100 

Christians 201  356  1580  296  2433 

Communicants 95  229  426  155  905 

Baptisms,  six  months n  17  178  39  245 

Schools 4  10  26  9  49 

Teachers 9  25  8  52 

Pupils 224  195  393  117  899 

1  At  the  July,  1890,  Mission  Council  meeting  the  missionaries  requested  that 
they  be  granted  allowances  to  enable  them  to  spend  the  hot  season  at  some 
health  resort.  The  Board  granted  the  request.  This  allowance  now  is  Rs.  75 
for  each  adult  and  Rs.  25  for  each  child. 


276       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

In  August,  1890,  Mr.  John  G.  Haas  of  Lancaster,  Pa.,  whom 
Dr.  Schmidt  on  his  visit  to  America  and  afterward  through 
correspondence  had  interested  in  the  enterprise,  began  to 
send  money  to  him  for  the  endowment  of  a  Christian  com- 
munity, centered  around  a  church  with  a  native  pastor. 
Schmidt  selected  Lankapuram  near  Mahadevipatnam  as  the 
location  of  the  community  and  began  the  purchase  of  land 
there  and  elsewhere  in  the  Bhimawaram  taluk,  which  he 
arranged  to  rent  or  to  sell  on  easy  terms  to  poor  but  deserving 
Christians  who  were  to  form  the  community.  Gradually 
this  enterprise,  financed  entirely  by  Mr.  Haas,  assumed  con- 
siderable proportions;  but  it  was  altogether  a  private  under- 
taking, of  which  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  had  no 
official  knowledge  and  over  which  it  never  attempted  to 
exercise  control. 

According  to  the  agreement  between  the  Breklum  Society 
and  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  Pohl  had  been  loaned 
to  the  Rajahmundry  Mission  for  only  a  year.  At  the  end  of 
the  year,  however,  no  one  had  been  found  to  take  his  place 
as  the  head  of  the  educational  work,  and  the  Breklum  Society, 
at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the  Committee,  extended  the 
period  to  the  close  of  the  year  1891. 

March  4,  1891,  was  a  high  day  in  the  history  of  the  Rajah- 
mundry school  which  that  year  received  the  name  of  The 
Seminary,  when  twenty-one  students,  the  largest  number 
sent  out  from  this  school  up  to  that  time,  were  formally 
and  solemnly  installed  as  teachers.  "On  Tuesday,"  wrote 
Pohl,  "the  schoolhouse  was  tastefully  decorated  with  palm 
branches,  and  the  students  who  were  to  be  graduated  gave 
what  may  be  termed  a  farewell  luncheon  to  the  pupils  who 
were  to  remain  in  the  school.  What  impressed  me  most 
favorably  was  the  fact  that,  as  they  were  now  all  together 
for  the  last  time,  they,  first  of  all,  united  in  singing  to  the 
Lord  a  hymn  of  praise  and,  then,  on  bended  knees,  offered 
prayers  and  suppli cations.  In  the  evening  we  all  attended 
the  Preparatory  Service  in  the  church,  for  we  wanted  to  mark 
the  ending  of  our  past  work  and  the  beginning  of  the  new  with 
the  assurance  of  the  divine  pardon  of  our  sins.  The  solemn 


WOMAN   MISSIONARIES    (1890-91)  277 

commissioning  of  the  teachers  to  their  respective  fields  of 
work  occurred  on  Wednesday  morning.  After  we  had  all 
joined  in  prayer  once  more  in  our  home,  we  proceeded  to  the 
church.  After  the  regular  liturgical  service  and  the  lesson, 
Brother  Schmidt  addressed  the  young  men.  Then  I,  who  had 
taken  so  much  delight  in  teaching  them,  delivered  a  brief 
address.  After  the  chanting  of  Psalm  100  the  teachers- 
elect  came  to  the  altar  and  Brother  Schmidt  asked  them: 
"Dear  Brethren  in  the  Lord,  in  the  presence  of  Almighty 
God  and  of  this  congregation,  I  now  ask  you:  Are  you  ready 
and  willing  to  devote  yourselves  fully  and  sincerely  to  the 
service  to  which  you  have  been  appointed  this  day;  and,  for 
Jesus'  sake,  Who  gave  Himself  for  you,  will  you  fulfill  your 
calling  with  all  fidelity,  and  adorn  it  with  a  holy  life  in  con- 
formity with  the  teachings  of  our  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church?"  Each  in  turn  answered:  "Yes,  with  the  help  of 
God."  Then  they  were  set  apart  for  their  work  as  teachers 
by  the  laying  on  of  hands  and  the  following  form  of  consecra- 
tion: "God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy 
Ghost,  bless,  protect,  sanctify  and  cause  you  to  abound  in 
faith,  wisdom,  love  and  sincerity,  in  order  that  you  may  serve 
Him  for  the  glory  of  His  Name  and  for  the  edifying  of  His 
Holy  Church;  and  in  the  end  may  you  obtain  everlasting 
life  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord."  Thereupon  the  congre- 
gation said,  "Amen."  Then  I  laid  my  hand  on  the  head  of 
each  one,  repeating  appropriate  passages  of  Holy  Scripture. 
Prayer  was  offered  by  Brother  Schmidt  and  the  Holy  Com- 
munion followed.  The  service  closed  with  the  benediction 
and  the  hymn  "Abide  with  us,  our  Saviour." 

At  the  special  request  of  the  teachers  who  had  graduated 
from  the  Seminary  and  with  the  approval  of  the  Mission 
Council,  Pohl  devoted  the  months  of  June  and  July  to  a  special 
normal  course  for  their  benefit.  Thirty-three  attended  this 
course,  which  was  pronounced  to  have  been  a  decided  suc- 
cess. In  recent  years  more  attention  has  been  given  to  the 
normal  training  of  teachers,  which  has  been  found  to  be  a 
necessary  preparation  for  efficient  work  on  the  part  of  the 
native  assistants. 


278       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Miss  Schade  took  charge  of  the  Artman  Poor  Mohammedan 
Girls'  School  in  April,  and  Miss  Sadtler,  of  the  Caste  Girls' 
School  in  July,  1891.  Both  resided  with  the  Schmidts  in  the 
Riverdale  bungalow  until  the  Zenana  Home  was  completed. 

Some  time  in  1891  "The  Telugu  Lutheran,"  a  four  page 
sheet,  8  by  13  inches,  was  begun  as  a  regular  publication  of 
the  Mission. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  a  new  missionary  was  on  the 
field  to  take  the  place  of  Pohl.  The  Rev.  Calvin  F.  Kuder  was 
the  twelfth  ordained  missionary  sent  out  by  the  General  Coun- 
cil to  India.  He  was  born  April  10,  1864,  at  Laurys,  Lehigh 
County,  Pa.  After  having  been  graduated  from  Roanoke  Col- 
lege, Salem,  Va.,  he  entered  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Theo- 
logical Seminary  at  Philadelphia.  While  a  member  of  the 
middle  class  in  the  Seminary  he  volunteered  to  go  to  India  in 
the  service  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee.  He  was  called 
subject  to  his  ordination  which  occurred  at  the  meeting  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Ministerium  in  Emmanuel  Church,  Pottstown, 
Pa.,  on  May  26,  1891.  On  August  i8th,  that  year,  he  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Mattie,  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W. 
A.  Ferguson,  at  Salem,  Va.  The  service  of  commissioning 
was  held  on  August  3ist,  in  St.  John's  Church,  Allentown, 
Pa.,  the  chairman  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee,  the 
Rev.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  delivering  the  charge  to  the  mis- 
sionary. The  Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kuder  sailed  from  Phila- 
delphia on  September  2d,  and  reached  Rajahmundry  on 
November  14,  1891. 

The  year  1891  marked  quite  an  advance  in  the  foreign 
mission  activity  of  the  Church  at  home,  due  largely  to  the 
increase  of  women's  missionary  societies,  mission  leagues  and 
kindred  organizations.  A  beginning  had  been  made,  also,  in 
the  publication  of  special  literature  on  our  foreign  mission 
work.  Mrs.  J.  A.  Bauman,  of  Allentown,  Pa.,  published  a 
small  catechism  on  foreign  mission  work  in  India  with  special 
reference  to.  the  Telugu  Mission  of  the  General  Council,  which 
was  prepared  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  H.  C.  Schmidt; 
and  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Trabert,  D.  D.,  wrote  and  published  a 
book  on  "Missions  Among  the  Telugus."  Both  appeared 


WOMAN   MISSIONARIES    (1890-91)  279 

with  the  hearty  endorsement  of  the  Foreign  Missions 
Committee. 

In  its  report  to  the  General  Council  at  Buffalo,  in  1891,  the 
Foreign  Missions  Committee,  besides  giving  the  names  of 
forty-two  individuals,  schools  and  societies  supporting  boys' 
scholarships,  and  eighteen  supporting  girls'  scholarships, 
reported  twenty  teachers  and  other  native  workers  supported 
by  patrons  in  America.  The  Riverdale  Hindu  Girls'  School 
was  being  supported  by  the  Sunday  schools  of  St.  John's 
and  St.  Mark's  churches  of  Philadelphia;  the  Mohammedan 
Girls'  School,  by  the  Young  Ladies'  Society  and  the  Sunday 
school  of  Holy  Trinity  Church,  New  York  City;  the  school  at 
Gorlamudi  by  the  Children's  Missionary  Society  of  Emmanuel 
Swedish  Church  of  Chicago,  and  the  school  at  Srirangapatnam, 
by  the  Ladies'  Missionary  Society  of  the  church  last  men- 
tioned.1 

The  average  annual  contribution  from  all  sources  for  the 
biennium  1890-91  was  $12,675.80;  the  average  annual  ex- 
penditure, $12,989.32,  showing  an  excess  of  expenditure.  The 
floating  indebtedness  of  $1000  remained  unpaid.  Among  the 
items  of  income  noted  were  several  hundreds  of  dollars  each 
year,  derived  from  the  net  proceeds  of  the  German  and 
English  publications  of  the  General  Council.2 

The  committee  of  the  General  Council  on  Woman's  Work 
presented  a  report  to  the  convention  at  Buffalo,  which,  in  view 
of  the  development  of  the  Women's  Missionary  Society, 
is  of  unusual  interest.  It  reads,  in  part,  as  follows: 

"Whereas,  In  the  providence  of  God  a  wide  and  effective 
door  has  been  opened  for  zenana  work,  inviting  effort  and  giv- 
ing encouragement  to  the  labors  of  those  who  are  concerned 
for  the  elevation  and  christianization  of  heathen  homes,  we 

1  The  plan  of  supporting  schools,  stations  or  districts  is  now  being  preferred 
by  Mission  Boards  to  that  of  supporting  teachers  and  other  native  workers. 

2  From  October,  1889,  to  October,  1890,  the  cash  transferred  from  the  Genera 
Council's  general  expense  fund  to  the  treasury  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Com- 
mittee was:  One-third  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  German  publications,  $139.82, 
and  one-third  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  English  publications,  $46.61: — From 
October,  1890,  to  October,  1891:  One-third  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  German 
publications,  $333,34,  and  one-third  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  English  pub- 
lications, $166.66.     No  income  is  derived  from  this  source  to-day. 


280       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

earnestly  call  upon  the  women  of  our  churches  to  embrace 
the  opportunity  presented  of  bearing  the  precious  Gospel  to 
those  who  can  be  reached  only  through  their  instrumentality. 

"Whereas,  In  view  of  the  enlarged  demands  made  upon  the 
churches  for  the  home  and  foreign  fields,  it  is  recommended 
that  missionary  societies  be  established  in  all  our  congrega- 
tions, wherever  practicable,  as  a  means  of  fostering  a  fervent 
missionary  zeal  through  the  collection  of  mission  intelligence, 
of  quickening  responsibility  in  regard  to  mission  work  and  of 
securing  more  general  contributions  to  the  treasuries  of  our 
various  boards. 

"We  further  recommend  the  organization  of  local  societies 
within  the  bounds  of  a  Conference  into  one  central  body;  and 
these  Conference  organizations  shall  unite  in  forming  a  general 
body,  composed  of  delegates  from  the  Conference  societies,  in 
such  ratio  as  may  be  determined. 

"We  recommend  that  the  constitutions  of  the  local  societies 
be  submitted  to  the  Councils  of  the  respective  congregations 
for  approval,  and  those  of  the  Conference  societies  to  the  re- 
spective Conferences,  and  that  of  the  general  body  to  the  Gen- 
eral Council. 

"We  recommend  that  specific  work  undertaken  by  the 
general  body  shall  be  with  the  approval  and  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  proper  committee  or  board  of  the  General  Council." 

It  is  necessary  to  notice  that,  at  the  1891  convention  of  the 
General  Council,  the  official  title  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Com- 
mittee was  changed  to  that  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
of  the  General  Council.  In  the  place  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Mann 
and  the  Rev.  G.  C.  Gardner,  the  Revs.  A.  Cordes  and  E.  R. 
Cassaday  were  chosen,  and  in  the  place  of  Mr.  F.  Bauer,  Mr. 
W.  F.  Monroe.  The  Board  reorganized  after  the  convention 
of  the  General  Council  by  re-electing  its  former  officers,  the 
office  of  English  recording  secretary  having  already,  in 
February,  1891,  been  separated  from  that  of  corresponding 
secretary,  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Sibole  having  been  elected  to  fill  the 
former,  and  the  Rev.  William  Ashmead  Schaeffer,  D.  D., 
the  latter  office. 


JOHN    H.    HARPSTER 


CALVIN   F.   KLTER 


RUDOLPH  ARPS 


ANDREW    S.    FICHTHORN 


HANS    ERIC    ISAACSON 


MISSIONARIES    IN    INDIA 


KATE  L.  SADTLER  AND  HER  HINDI"  lilKJ.S'  SCHOOL 

. 


TEACHERS    AND    PUPILS    OF    EMILY    L.    WEISKOTTKN'S    HINDU 
GIRLS'   SCHOOLS 


CHAPTER  XII 

INCREASING  FRUITFULNESS   (1892-93) 

IN  order  to  secure  the  necessary  funds  for  the  Zenana  Home 
which  was  being  built  to  accommodate  the  zenana  sisters, 
a  unique  method  of  raising  money  was  proposed  by  Schmidt 
and  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  The  cost  of 
construction  was  divided  as  follows: 

Masonry,  18  shares,  at  $20  a  share $360.00 

Doors,  16,  at  $8  a  door 128.00 

Windows,  10,  at  $6  a  window 60.00 

Pillars,  10,  at  $10  a  pillar , 100.00 

Beams,  12,  at  $6  a  beam '. 72.00 

Rafters,  200,  at  $i  a  rafter 200.00 

Staircase 40.00 

Roofs,  4,  at  $80  a  roof 320.00 

Roof,  i,  at  $100 100.00 

Trusses,  4,  at  $15  a  truss 60.00 

The  responses  to  this  method  of  appeal  were  prompt  and 
enthusiastic,  and  by  the  time  the  building  was  completed 
enough  money  had  been  contributed  to  pay  the  total  cost  of 
construction,  which  was  approximately  $1500.  The  Misses 
Schade  and  Sadtler  moved  into  the  Zenana  Home  in  May, 
1892. 

As  usual,  the  new  year  began  with  the  conventions  of  the 
Mission  Conference  and  Council,  beginning  on  the  first  Sun- 
day in  January.1 

Church  Missionary  Society  missionaries  from  Dummugu- 
dem  had  gone  into  the  hill  country  and  made  a  number  of  con- 
verts, but,  realizing  that  the  territory  in  that  direction  really 
belonged  to  our  Mission,  urged  our  missionaries  to  provide 
for  a  more  thorough  and  systematic  evangelization  of  the  dis- 
trict. Some  time  during  the  first  half  of  the  year  1892,  there- 
fore, Edman  visited  that  part  of  the  field  and  baptized  a  few 
persons.  In  September  Schmidt  went  up  the  Godavery  River 

1  Schmidt,  as  the  senior  missionary,  was  continued  in  the  office  of  president 
McCready  was  elected  English  secretary. 

281 


282       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

beyond  Sitanagaram,  accompanied  by  his  wife.    Mrs.  Schmidt 
described  this  tour  as  follows: 

"On  the  morning  of  September  27th1  we  started  up  the 
Godavery.  At  this  time  of  the  year  the  water  is  high  and  the 
current  strong.  Six  sturdy  men  were  engaged  to  take  up  the 
house-boat.  Not  one  of  them  would  go  without  the  promise 
of  double  wages.  It  was  hard  work.  At  evening  we  an- 
chored near  a  sand-bank.  The  gorgeous  sunset,  covering  the 
mountains  with  golden  light,  was  followed  by  a  fine  moon- 
light. The  coolies  got  out  their  prepared  rice  which  they  had 
brought  from  home  wrapped  in  a  piece  of  cloth,  and  sat 
down  on  the  sand  and  ate  it.  Afterward  they  stretched  them- 
selves out  on  a  cloth  spread  on  the  sand  to  rest  for  the  night. 
The  boat  started  in  the  morning  before  we  arose.  While 
we  were  eating  our  breakfast,  which  we  had  to  take  without 
milk,  because  none  could  be  gotten,  we  reached  the  village  of 
Moonakodavelli.  We  went  up  to  see  the  Christians  who  lived 
in  this  village.  Many  people  gathered  as  we  sat  on  the  veran- 
dah. After  singing  a  hymn  Mr.  Schmidt  read  the  parable  of 
the  shepherd  leaving  the  ninety-nine  to  seek  the  one  lost 
sheep,  and  used  it  as  a  text  for  a  sermon.  The  sermon  was 
followed  by  a  conversation  during  which  the  people  asked  for 
a  teacher,  because  they  wanted  to  be  instructed  in  the  truth. 
They  had  a  teacher  some  time  ago,  who  got  the  cholera,  from 
which  he  recovered;  but  he  had  not  the  courage  to  remain. 
Nobody  has  since  been  found  willing  to  go  up  there. 

"We  went  to  Sitanagaram,  where  the  Christians  came  to 
the  shore  to  welcome  us.  In  the  evening  we  went  to  Vangala- 
pudi  and  sat  down  under  a  large  tamarind  tree  in  an  open  place, 
where  a  large  crowd  gathered .  Mos  t  of  them  were  caste  people . 
The  pariahs  stood  apart  on  one  side.  The  catechist  William 
played  the  violin  and  we  commenced  to  sing  'Raro  janulara' 
(Ye  sinners  come).  Mr.  Schmidt  preached  on  the  text,  'Come 
unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavily  laden.'  When  we 

1  Her  description  begins  with  an  interesting  paragraph.  "There  is  gener- 
ally nothing  we  enjoy  so  much,"  wrote  Mrs.  Schmidt,  "as  going  out  on  mission 
tours.  Not  for  the  sake  of  the  pleasure  or  the  comforts  of  travel,  but  because 
the  missionary  feels  himself  at  such  times  in  his  real  element,  proclaiming  the 
blessed  word  of  salvation  to  the  masses  of  various  people  wherever  he  goes." 


INCREASING    FRUITFULNESS    (1892-93)  283 

returned  to  the  boat  a  large  crowd  followed,  among  them  the 
village  munsiff.  The  next  day  Rapaka  and  Rahitavaram 
were  visited  in  the  morning,  and  Mr.  Schmidt  addressed  three 
crowds  of  people  in  these  places.  Saturday  morning  Konda- 
pudi  was  visited,  and  in  the  evening  we  went  again  to  Vangala- 
pudi.  There  is  a  school  here  with  about  twenty  boys  enrolled. 
Not  a  single  girl  could  read.  The  munsuTs  daughter,  who  is 
about  twelve  years  old,  and  a  few  other  girls  of  her  age  had 
mastered  a  few  words;  but  the  boys  read  fluently  and  wrote 
correctly  on  the  ground  as  we  dictated  to  them. 

"Sunday  morning  we  went  to  the  house  of  the  evangelist 
Joseph,  where  the  Christians  from  other  places  had  gathered 
to  partake  of  the  Holy  Communion.  In  a  stable  under  a  roof 
of  palm  leaves  supported  by  a  number  of  posts,  with  a  little 
bench  for  a  communion  table,  Mr.  Schmidt  using  a  box  and 
I  a  bench  for  seats,  mats  being  spread  on  the  floor  for  the 
Christians,  one  could  not  help  being  reminded  of  Him  who 
for  our  sakes  was  born  in  a  stable.  We  felt  assured  that  He 
was  just  as  near  to  us  gathered  there  in  His  name,  few  though 
we  were,  as  in  any  other  hallowed  place  of  worship.  Beautiful, 
large  trees  shaded  us  from  the  hot  sun,  and  the  birds  seemed 
to  join  in  the  singing.  Only  two  heathen  were  present,  one  an 
old  man  who  confessed  his  faith  in  Christ  and  wished  to  be 
baptized,  and  the  other  an  elderly  woman  who  sought  salva- 
tion through  the  Redeemer. 

"As  we  passed  Tallapudi  on  our  way  down  we  made  a  call 
there,  and  reached  home  at  noon  on  Monday,  where  we  at 
once  found  plenty  to  do,  as  it  was  the  beginning  of  the  month, 
when  all  agents  had  to  be  paid." 

Correspondence  was  opened  by  Schmidt,  in  1892,  with  the 
missionaries  of  the  Ontario  and  Quebec  Baptist  Mission, 
which  was  beginning  to  encroach  on  the  territory  of  our 
Mission,  asking  for  an  amicable  adjustment  of  boundary  lines, 
but  fourteen  years  were  to  elapse  before  an  agreement  could 
be  effected. 

J.  John,  who  had  been  a  teacher  in  the  Seminary,  became 
Edman's  catechist  in  the  Samulkot  district,  and  together  they 
visited  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  towns  and  villages  during 


284       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

the  first  half  of  the  year  1892.  Those  in  which  Christians 
resided  were  districted,  so  that  each  teacher  had  charge  of 
from  ten  to  fourteen  villages,  in  each  of  which  a  service  was 
held  at  least  once  a  month. 

Pastor  Joseph,  who  for  a  number  of  years  had  suffered  from 
a  disease  of  the  eyes,  became  totally  blind  in  one  eye  in  1892, 
and  in  other  respects  began  to  show  signs  of  advanced  age. 

St.  Peter's  Church  at  Tallapudi  was  completed  in  1892. 
A  baptismal  font,  donated  by  Professor  and  Mrs.  Garber  of 
Allentown,  and  a  pulpit,  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Mary  Hunter  of 
New  York,  were  placed  in  the  chancel.  As  a  consequence  of 
his  supervision  of  the  erection  of  the  buildings  at  Tallapudi 
McCready  became  interested  in  the  manufacture  of  tiles, 
and  proposed  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  that  industrial 
work  along  this  line  should  be  begun  at  Tallapudi.  Most 
of  the  converts  in  his  district,  he  argued,  being  of  the  Madiga 
or  Chuckler  caste — the  lowest  and  poorest  people — desired 
after  their  conversion  to  better  their  conditions.  McCready 
was  convinced  that  this  problem  could  be  solved  by  teaching 
them  to  make  tiles.  The  Foreign  Mission  Board,  however, 
declined  to  finance  the  undertaking  or  to  include  it  as  a 
regular  branch  of  mission  work.  Mrs.  McCready  taught 
some  of  the  Christian  women  and  girls  in  Tallapudi  and 
neighboring  villages  how  to  crochet,  knit  and  make  lace. 
In  1892  she  had  a  class  of  about  twenty  at  work. 

In  March,  1892,  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  authorized 
the  erection  of  a  church  at  Bhimawaram,  which  was  to  be  a 
memorial  to  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  B.  M.  Schmucker  and  was  to 
receive  the  name  of  The  Church  of  the  Transfiguration, 
because  Dr.  Schmucker  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  the 
pastor  of  a  church  of  the  same  name  in  Pottstown,  Pa.  A 
scheme  for  raising  funds  in  America  similar  to  that  employed 
for  the  Zenana  Home  was  adopted,  but  it  met  with  less  pro- 
nounced success.  The  church  was  planned  to  seat  1000 
people  and  to  cost  $300x3. l 

1  Building  operations  in  the  lower  portions  of  the  Godavery  delta  are  more 
expensive,  because  all  the  building  material  must  be  brought  from  Rajahmundry 
a  distance  of  nearly  fifty  miles,  in  boats  or  bullock-carts. 


INCREASING   FRUITFULNESS    (1892-93)  285 

The  excellent  condition  of  the  Seminary  at  Rajahmundry 
under  the  supervision  of  Pohl  was  attested  by  the  result  of 
the  examination  by  the  government  school-inspector,  in 
January,  1892,  when  seventy-five  of  the  ninety  pupils  in  the 
school  passed  creditable  examinations,  and  a  government 
grant  of  600  rupees  was  allowed.  Pohl  left  the  Mission  on 
March  2,  1892,  bound  for  Germany,  on  furlough.  He  had 
raised  the  standard  of  the  Rajahmundry  school  from  the 
grade  of  a  Primary  to  that  of  a  Lower  Secondary  school.  On 
the  last  Sunday  he  spent  in  Rajahmundry,  February  28th,  he 
consecrated  seven  graduates  of  the  school  for  work  as  teachers 
in  the  Mission.  As  a  farewell  token  of  esteem  the  teachers  in 
the  Seminary  gave  him  a  watch  charm  in  the  form  of  a  gold 
cross. 

"On  Monday  we  left  the  house,"  wrote  Pohl,  "where  we 
had  experienced  so  many  hours  of  good  fortune  and  peace — 
hours  filled  with  consolation  in  times  of  need  and  with  joy  in 
the  pursuit  of  duties.  Tuesday  afternoon  we  went  aboard 
the  'Dove  of  Peace'  which,  ten  years  ago,  when  I  first  came  to 
India,  carried  us  a  good  part  of  the  way  to  our  destination. 
The  whole  congregation  and  school  assembled  at  Riverdale. 
Brother  Kuder  spoke  a  few  farewell  words  in  English,  the 
people  sang  'Jesus  still  lead  on,'  Pastor  Paulus  offered  a 
prayer  and  I  pronounced  the  benediction.  A  last  warm  hand- 
shake, a  last  kiss,  and  the  bond  of  our  common  labor  was 
severed.  Many  waded  into  the  water  a  short  distance  after 
the  boat  to  shake  our  hands  again.  As  long  as  we  could  see 
the  mission  compound  the  people  stood  on  the  river-bank  wav- 
ing us  adieu.  The  setting  sun  plated  the  town  with  a  golden 
glow. .  Oh,  how  beautiful  will  be  that  city  of  golden  streets, 
in  which  there  will  be  no  more  farewells!" 

How  much  the  service  of  Pohl  was  appreciated  may  be 
learned  from  the  following  letter,  dated  January  19,  1892: 

"The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  General  Council  to 
the  Rev.  E.  Pohl,  Greeting: 

"Reverend  and  Dear  Brother:  Your  active  connection 
with  our  Mission  in  Rajahmundry,  that  has  been  accom- 
panied by  such  happy  results,  being  now  terminated  to  our 


286       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

sincere  regret,  we  take  occasion  to  express  to  you  our  estimate 
of  your  work  and  our  sense  of  what  we  owe  you  for  the  good 
and  valuable  service  you  have  been  enabled  to  render.  The 
confidence  with  which  we  were  led  to  trust  in  you  from  the 
beginning  has  been  fully  justified;  and  the  satisfaction  we 
have  felt  in  your  mode  of  working  and  in  its  results  con- 
tinued to  increase  to  the  end.  You  have  co-operated  with 
your  colleagues  in  the  spirit  of  intelligent  enterprise,  Chris- 
tian harmony  and  brotherly  love.  Your  care  of  the  schools 
has  been  wise,  unwearied,  devoted  and  successful;  and  we 
fondly  cherish  the  hope  that  the  results  of  your  faithful 
administration  of  the  schools  will,  by  the  divine  favor,  prove 
to  be  a  blessing  for  many  years. 

"We  thank  you  with  our  whole  heart  and  commend  you 
to  the  favor  of  Him  whose  we  are  and  whom  we  serve,  trusting 
that  wherever  your  lot  may  be  cast,  every  blessing  may  rest 
upon  you  and  upon  all  your  work  of  faith  and  labor  of  love."1 
,  The  Rev.  and  Mrs.  C.  F.  Kuder  moved  into  the  old  mission 
house  after  the  Pohls  had  vacated  it,  Kuder  taking  charge 
of  the  school  and  Mrs.  Kuder  succeeding  Mrs.  Pohl  as  the 
supervisor  of  the  sewing-class. 

When  Kuder  assumed  charge  of  the  Seminary  on  March  i, 
1892,  there  were  10  teachers  and  150  pupils  of  whom  50 
were  day  pupils  and  26  boarding  girls,  the  rest  being  boarding 
boys.  That  was  the  largest  number  of  pupils  in  the  school  up 
to  that  time.  For  a  young  man  just  arrived  in  India  and  un- 
familiar with  the  vernacular,  the  supervision  of  the  Seminary 
was  anything  but  a  light  task.  A  number  of  changes  in  the 
staff  of  teachers  was  unavoidable.  M.  Devadas  was  em- 
ployed in  the  place  of  J.  John  who  had  become  Edman's 
catechist  at  Samulkot;  R.  Charles  took  V.  Jacob's  place,  who 
resigned;  C.James,  the  headmaster,  M.  William  and  Gopalam 
were  retained. 

In  a  description  of  the  Seminary  written  a  few  weeks  after 
taking  charge,  Kuder  wrote:  "The  school  is  under  the  rules 

1  To  the  Breklum  Missionary  Society  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  addressed 
a  communication  expressing  its  deep  gratitude  for  the  loan  of  the  Rev.  E.  Pohl 
whose  work  had  been  so  satisfactory  as  to  merit  its  praise. 


INCREASING   FRUITFULNESS    (1892-93)  287 

of  the  educational  department  of  the  Madras  Presidency. 
This  body  annually  issues  carefully  prepared  curricula 
to  which  all  schools  receiving  aid  from  government  must 
conform.  The  curriculum  for  our  class  of  schools  is  thor- 
oughly suited  to  the  work  to  be  done,  and  we  receive  yearly 
a  grant  of  several  hundreds  of  rupees.  The  Department 
divides  schools  into  Lower  Primary,  Upper  Primary,  Lower 
Secondary  and  Upper  Secondary.  The  Seminary  embraces 
the  first  three  of  these  divisions,  the  highest  class  being  the 
seventh  standard,  called  also  the  third  form.  For  this  class 
or  standard  the  curriculum  demands  a  knowledge  of  arith- 
metic up  through  present  worth  and  discount,  thorough 
familiarity  with  Telugu  and  ability  to  write  well.  Under 
optional  branches  of  study  are  a  general  knowledge  of  the 
geography  of  the  world  with  special  attention  to  Asia  and 
India,  English  and  English  history,  the  four  simple  rules  in 
Algebra,  about  fifty  propositions  in  elementary  geometry, 
simple  physics,  and  an  acquaintance  with  English  grammar, 
reading  and  writing.  The  boys  who  pass  out  of  these  stand- 
ards are  fairly  well  equipped  to  teach.  They  are  well  edu- 
cated in  comparison  with  the  masses  whom  they  are  to  teach; 
and  our  school,  it  is  hoped,  will  constantly  improve,  so  that 
still  better  men  may  be  sent  out.  The  immense  progress  made 
since  Mr.  Groenning's  coming  and  especially  during  Mr. 
Pohl's  time,  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  we  now  have 
boys  of  twelve  years  more  than  twice  as  far  advanced  than 
men  of  twenty  were  then.  This  is  due  in  part  to  better  schools 
in  the  villages.  We  are  now  beginning  to  insist  on  having 
only  young  boys  in  the  school,  who  have  passed  the  second, 
if  not  the  third,  standard  in  the  village  schools." 

Speaking  of  the  boarding  department,  Kuder  said:  "The 
greatest  obstacle  to  thorough  work  is  the  uncomfortable  and 
insufficient  accommodations  we  have  for  our  boys.  There  are 
three  boarding  houses,  one  for  girls  and  two  for  boys.  The 
one  for  girls  has  two  stories,  of  which  the  lower  is  used  as  a 
dining-room  for  the  boys  and  the  upper  for  the  girls'  sleeping 
room.  Of  the  six  rooms  for  our  boarders  only  one  has  a  table, 
and  chairs  are  not  to  be  found  at  all.  In  all  the  rooms  but  one 


288   THE  TELUGU  MISSION  OF  THE  GENERAL  COUNCIL 

the  only  furniture  is  a  small  kerosene-oil  lamp  and  a  number  of 
little  boxes  in  which  the  children  keep  their  clothes  and 
books.  There  are  no  beds.  Nearly  all  the  boys  sleep  on  the 
floor,  often  in  dust  half  an  inch  thick,  lying  down  in  the 
panchis  and  coats  which  they  wear  during  the  day  and  expect 
to  wear  the  next  day." 

At  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year,  June  30,  1892,  the  missionaries 
reported  4  stations,  149  out-stations  or  villages,  93  native 
Christian  workers,  2  church  buildings,  97  adults  baptized 
from  January  i  to  June  30,  1892,  118  children  and  infants 
baptized  during  the  same  period,  3388  Christians  of  whom 
1205  were  communicants,  84  schools,  1465  pupils  in  school, 
4  married  ordained  foreign  missionaries  and  2  woman  mis- 
sionaries. The  estimates  for  the  first  half  of  the  year  1892 
called  for  Rs.  7100;  for  the  second  half,  Rs.  Sioo.1 

During  the  year  1892  S.  Abraham,  the  evangelist  supported 
by  the  Rampa  Fund,  brought  quite  a  number  of  inquirers  from 
the  Rampa  district  to  Rajahmundry  to  be  examined,  and 
Schmidt  baptized  twenty-four  of  them,  three  from  the  village 
of  Rampa  and  the  rest  from  the  Yellavaram  Division.  Edman 
also  baptized  a  number  from  the  region  around  Addatigula. 

Concerning  the  future  of  the  Seminary  Schmidt  wrote  in 
1892:  "It  will  and  must  develop  into  a  Theological  Seminary 
and  ought  to  have  proper  buildings  and  endowment.  I 
bought  land  for  its  endowment  many  years  ago  and  am 
ready  to  present  our  Seminary  with  this  lot  of  about  thirty 
acres  as  soon  as  our  Conference  and  the  Home  Board  are  pre- 
pared for  operations  in  this  direction  and  decide  to  accept 
my  offer."2 

Schmidt  was  still  deeply  interested  in  his  industrial  mission 
work.  "When  I  left  for  India  the  second  time,"  he  wrote, 

1  The  estimates  for  the  several  districts  and  departments  were  as  follows: 
First  half:  Velpur,  Rajahmundry,  Dowlaishwaram  and  Jegurupad  districts, 
Dr.  Schmidt,  Rs.  4000;  Tallapudi  district,  Rev.  McCready,  Rs.  600;  Samulkot 
district,  Dr.  Edman,  Rs.  900;  The  Seminary,  Rev.  Kuder,  Rs.  1600. 

2  The  Board  at  its  meeting  on  February  27,  1893,  instructed  its  corresponding 
secretary  to  write  to  Dr.  Schmidt  and  say  that  it  had  heard  with  pleasure  his 
proposal  of  a  gift  of  thirty  acres  of  land  in  our  Mission  in  India,  and  that  when 
the  time  had  come  for  more  definite  action,  the  Board  would  gladly  take  such 
action.    This  land  is  now  the  site  of  the  Boy's  Central  School. 


INCREASING    FRUITFULNESS    (1892-93)  289 

"I  expressed  it  as  my  wish  and  aim  during  my  second  term  of 
service  to  see  an  independent  native  congregation  established. 
The  last  part  of  my  second  term  is  ebbing  away,  and  still  the 
steadily  growing  native  church  makes  no  visible  effort  toward 
self-support.  By  industrial  training  some  have  become  useful 
artisans,  but  they  show  little  pride  in  their  church  and  hesi- 
tate to  sacrifice  a  portion  of  their  income  for  its  support.  To 
the  Mission  the  industrial  work  has  brought  no  profit,  not 
even  the  lime-kiln.  By  land  endowments  and  investments 
in  land  we  have  come  so  far  that  one  or  two  native  pastors 
can  be  supported  by  local  funds.  If  we  had  two  candidates 
for  the  ministry  we  would  be  able  to  pay  them  each  a  salary 
of  Rs.  25  or  30  a  month  from  the  income  of  landed  property 
and  investments." 

In  1892  Muhlenberg  College,  Allentown,  Pa.,  conferred  the 
degree  of  doctor  of  divinity  upon  the  Rev.  H.  C.  Schmidt,  in 
recognition  of  his  long  and  successful  labor  as  our  missionary 
in  India. 

A  decided  forward  step  was  taken  by  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  when,  in  November,  1891,  it  called  the  Rev.  J. 
Telleen,  a  member  of  the  Swedish  Augustana  Synod,  then 
located  at  Lindsborg,  Kan.,  to  be  "Missionary  Superintend- 
ent" to  visit  synods,  conferences,  congregations,  missionary 
societies  and  individuals,  to  deliver  addresses  on  foreign  mis- 
sions and  endeavor  to  increase  the  interest  of  the  Church  in 
the  work  of  the  Board.  He  was  instructed  to  take  up  col- 
lections for  the  foreign  missions  of  the  General  Council,  to 
solicit  contributions  from  individuals,  to  pay  over  all 
moneys  received  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Board  at  least  once 
a  month,  and  to  report  monthly  to  the  Board  about  his 
work.  He  entered  upon  the  duties  of  this  office  on  March  i, 
1892. 

In  1892  the  Rev.  Prof.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  resigned  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  having  served  in  that 
position  for  sixteen  years.  The  Rev.  Prof.  C.  W.  Schaeffer, 
D.  D.,  was  elected  as  his  successor.1 

1  In  the  place  of  the  Rev.  P.  J.  O.  Cornell,  resigned,  the  Rev.  C.  Elofson, 
Ph.  D.,  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Board  in  1892. 


290       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

McCready  was  given  a  leave  of  absence  from  the  Mission 
in  1893.  He  had  cabled  to  the  Board  in  May,  1892,  and 
afterward  written  to  explain  that  he  desired  to  study  the 
manufacture  of  tiles  in  various  parts  of  India  with  the  view  of 
establishing  a  factory  at  Tallapudi,  where  Christians  could 
secure  work.  In  granting  the  desired  permission  the  Board 
said  that  "under  the  circumstances,  if  Mr.  McCready's  con- 
science assures  him  that  such  a  course  is  right,  he  is  justi- 
fied to  do  so,  in  which  event  he  will  be  expected  to  report  to 
the  Board  every  three  months  as  to  his  whereabouts  and  work, 
and  to  return  to  his  position  in  the  Mission  at  the  end  of 
the  year,  and  that  this  leave  of  absence  be  without  pay." 
McCready  accepted  the  conditions,  leaving  Tallapudi  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1893.  After  his  return  he  established  a  small  private 
tile-works  at  Tallapudi.  During  his  absence  Kuder  and 
Edman  looked  after  the  mission  work  in  the  Tallapudi 
district. 

Dr.  Schmidt  spent  the  month  of  February  on  tour  in  the 
Velpur-Bhimawaram  district,  visiting  more  than  thirty-four 
villages  in  which  Christians  and  inquirers  resided.1  In  April 
he  toured  the  Jegurupad  district  and  then  went  up  to  Rampa, 
where  he  had  not  been  for  twenty  years.  "A  prayer  meeting 
was  held  in  Peter's  house,  who  was  baptized  in  Rajahmundry 
last  Christmas  with  his  two  children.  Several  expressed  the 
wish  to  become  Christians,  among  them  a  young  man  who  had 
been  in  our  mission  school  which  was  kept  there  for  some  time 
about  twenty  years  ago.  Peter  had  also  attended  this  school 
at  Rampa.  It  was  a  wonderful  thing  to  us  that  the  seed  sown 
so  long  ago  had  not  been  sowed  in  vain  but  had  borne  fruit 
after  so  many  years,"  wrote  Mrs.  Schmidt.  The  evangelist 
Abraham  gathered  a  number  of  Christians  from  the  district 
at  Chodawaram,  where  a  service  was  held,  "very  likely  the 
first  ever  held  in  that  place."  Gokaram,  Gonegudem  and 

1  The  villages  mentioned  are:  Mahadevipatnam,  Annawaram,  Kowada, 
Narasimhapalam,  Gollalakoderu,  Undi,  Agraharam,  Kolamur,  Cheraigudem, 
Garrakaparru,  Chilukur,  Sagapadu,  Aredu,  Gutlapad,  Annakoderu,  Seesali, 
Kamarada,  Bhimawaram,  Ennamaduru,  Dirusumarru,  Peddamiram,  Chinna- 
miram,  Jakkaram,  Bondada,  Kopella,  Ballasamudi,  Gunapudi,  Komadavelli, 
Vissakoderu,  Srungavruksham,  Konitallapalli,  Taderu,  Korapad. 


INCREASING   FRUITFULNESS    (1892-93)  291 

other  villages  were  visited  and  the  Gospel  preached  to  the 
villagers. 

Edman  revisited  Addatigula  in  March,  1893,  and  preached 
there  and  in  the  surrounding  villages,  where  there  were  about 
fifty  baptized  Christians.  Among  those  whom  he  interested 
was  a  rajah.  "I  have  visited  him  twice,"  wrote  Edman, 
"and  preached  in  his  house.  He  called  all  of  his  servants  for 
the  services  and  they  listened  attentively.  He  gave  me  a 
piece  of  land  on  which  to  build  a  schoolhouse  and  another  in 
Addatigula  to  be  used  as  a  cemetery.  I  have  two  boys  from 
the  hills  in  the  school  at  Rajahmundry."  On  this  tour  Ed- 
man baptized  twelve  persons. 

The  growth  of  the  Mission1  led  the  Mission  Council  at  its 
meeting  in  July,  1893,  to  pass  the  following  resolution:  "Re- 
solved, That  we  suggest  to  the  Board  that  two  stations  be 
opened,  one  at  Pittapur,  nine  miles  northeast  of  Samulkot, 
the  other  at  Tadepalligudem,  a  railway  station  half-way 
between  Rajahmundry  and  Ellore."  Pittapur  was  never 
occupied,  but  Tadepalligudem  became  a  regular  station 
several  years  later. 

In  August,  1893,  Dr.  Schmidt  went  to  Bellary  to  attend  a 
meeting  of  the  Telugu  Bible  Revision  Committee  and  to 
arrange  for  the  shipment  of  the  India  boxes  sent  from  America, 
which  were  held  at  Madras  for  the  customs  duty.  Among 
other  things  sent  in  the  boxes  that  year  was  a  solid  silver 
communion  set  for  the  church  of  the  Transfiguration,  about 
to  be  built  at  Bhimawaram,  donated  by  Mrs.  Hunter  of  New 
York. 

Edman,  who  had  studied  medicine  in  America  and  secured 
a  physician's  certificate,  found  abundant  opportunity  to  use 
his  medical  knowledge  and  skill.  He  claimed,  moreover,  that 
the  government  hospitals  with  their  high  caste  native  dressers 
were  of  little  benefit  to  low  caste  people,  and  he  urged  the 
establishment  of  a  Mission  Hospital. 

Three  additions  were  made  to  the  force  of  ordained  mis- 

1  The  total  number  baptized  by  the  missionaries  during  the  year  1893  was 
1224;  confirmed,  42.  There  were  3757  Christians  and  1441  communicants 
reported.  The  number  of  pupils  in  all  schools  was  1794. 


THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

sionaries  in  1893;  an^,  moreover,  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions succeeded  in  securing  the  continued  service  of  the  Rev. 
E.  Pohl  after  the  expiration  of  his  furlough  in  Germany. 
The  Schleswig-Holstein  Society  agreed  to  transfer  him  to 
our  Board  with  the  understanding  that  in  case  of  emergency 
he  was  to  be  recalled  to  serve  in  the  Society's  field  in 
India. 

Paul  Baehnisch  was  called  by  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions to  enter  its  service  as  a  foreign  missionary  while  he  was 
a  senior  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Mt.  Airy,  Philadel- 
phia. He  was  ordained  by  the  New  York  Ministerium  in 
1893.  He  was  commissioned  on  July  23,  1893,  in  St.  James' 
German  Lutheran  Church,  Philadelphia.  Three  days  later 
he  sailed  for  Germany,  where  he  married,  his  wife  accompany- 
ing him  to  India.  They  reached  Rajahmundry  on  December 
15,  1893. 

Rudolph  Arps,  a  son  of  Hans  Adolph  Arps,  and  his  wife, 
Matilda  Jeanette,  nee  D'Aubert,  was  born  in  Neuminster, 
Holstein,  Germany,  March  20,  1869.  He  was  about  to  be 
graduated  from  the  Mission  Institute  of  the  Schleswig-Hol- 
stein Society  at  Breklum,  when,  in  October,  1892,  he  received 
and  accepted  the  call  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of 
the  General  Council.  Shortly  after  his  graduation  he  married 
Anna,  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Edward  Reuss.  He  came  to 
the  United  States  in  the  company  of  the  Rev.  E.  Pohl,  arriving 
in  New  York  on  September  6,  1893.  He  was  ordained  by  the 
officers  of  the  Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania  in  St.  John's 
German  Lutheran  Church,  Philadelphia,  on  Sunday,  Sep- 
tember 24th,  the  Rev.  E.  Pohl  preaching  the  ordination 
sermon.  He  was  commissioned,  together  with  the  Rev. 
H.  E.  Isaacson,  in  St.  Luke's  English  Lutheran  Church, 
Philadelphia,  on  October  2d,  and  sailed  from  America  two 
days  later. 

Hans  Eric  Isaacson,  a  son  of  Isaac  Eden,  and  his  wife, 
Johanna,  n6e  Lundgren,  was  born  in  Odalslinden,  Sweden, 
April  27,  1862.  He  attended  Hermosamd  College,  Surden, 
Sweden,  and  then  came  to  the  United  States.  He  studied 
theology  at  Augustana  Theological  Seminary,  Rock  Island, 


INCREASING    FRUITFULNESS    (1892-93)  293 

Illinois.  He  married  Olivia,  a  daughter  of  Alfred  and  Annetta 
Lundgren,  who  was  born  in  Youngly,  Sweden.  After  his 
ordination  by  the  Swedish  Augustana  Synod  he  served  a  con- 
gregation at  Port  Allegheny,  Pa.  He  was  called  in  April, 
1893,  by  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  to  go  to  India,  and 
accepted  the  call.  He  was  commissioned  at  the  same  time 
and  place  as  the  Rev.  R.  Arps. 

During  their  sojourn  in  America  Pohl  and  Arps  visited  a 
number  of  conferences  and  congregations  and  presented  the 
cause  of  our  India  Mission.  They  sailed  from  New  York 
in  the  company  of  the  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Isaacson,  on  Octo- 
ber 4,  1893.  In  Europe  the  missionaries  separated  to  meet 
again  at  Genoa,  where  they  took  ship  for  Colombo.  Pohl  took 
his  two  younger  daughters  to  India,  but  left  his  three  elder 
sons  at  Liegnitz,  Germany,  to  be  educated.  Coconada  was 
reached  on  Christmas  Day.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Isaacson  remained 
for  some  time  at  Samulkot,  while  the  rest  went  on  to  Ra- 
jahmundry,  the  Pohls  going  to  Riverdale  bungalow  as  the 
guests  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Schmidt,  and  the  Arps  finding  tempo- 
rary shelter  in  the  Zenana  Home. 

Urgent  representations  had  been  made  by  the  missionaries 
in  1892,  asking  the  Board  to  rule  that  new  missionaries  should 
be  free  during  the  first  two  years  of  their  residence  in  India 
to  study  the  language  and  customs  of  the  natives.  It  was  felt 
that  a  vital  mistake  had  been  made  in  assigning  them  work 
at  once  and  thus  burdening  them  with  heavy  responsibilities 
before  they  were  familiar  with  Telugu  or  the  mission  opera- 
tions. The  Board  accordingly  ruled  that  new  missionaries 
should  devote  one  year  or,  if  possible,  two  years  after  arrival 
in  India  to  the  study  of  the  vernacular.  The  Mission  Council 
prescribed  a  curriculum  under  native  munshis  (teachers)  and 
appointed  an  examining  committee.  After  having  passed  an 
examination  at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  the  missionary  was  to 
become  the  assistant  of  some  older  missionary  and  to  con- 
tinue his  study  of  Telugu  during  the  second  year.  At  the 
end  of  the  second  year,  after  having  passed  a  second  and  final 
examination,  he  was  to  be  given  independent  charge  of  some 
district  or  department.  It  was  also  decided  that  a  missionary 


2Q4       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

should  be  allowed  a  vote  in  the  Mission  Council  after  having 
passed  his  first  examination.1 

As  a  result  of  the  progress  and  growth  of  the  Mission  in 
India  and  the  sending  out  of  three  ordained  missionaries 
and  their  wives  in  1893,  the  cause  of  foreign  missions  attracted 
more  attention  and  aroused  more  interest  in  the  Church  at 
home.  The  treasurer  of  the  General  Council,  who  was  still 
the  treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,2  reported 
receipts  for  the  biennium,  ending  September  28,  1893,  amount- 
ing to  $32,856.52,  which  was  $7504.92  more  than  during  the 
previous  biennium,  and  a  total  expenditure  of  $30,844.30. 
While  the  "Missionsbote"  account  showed  a  balance  of 
$1923.81,  turned  into  the  General  Fund,  "The  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary" account  had  a  deficit  of  $301.36,  which  was  drawn 
from  the  General  Fund  of  the  Board.  With  the  September, 
1893,  issue  of  "The  Foreign  Missionary"  the  Rev.  Professor 
C.  W.  Schaeffer,  D.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  William  Ashmead 
Schaeffer,  his  son,  severed  their  relations  with  the  paper  as  the 
editor  and  associate  editor,  respectively;  the  Rev.  E.  E. 
Sibole,  D.  D.,  was  elected  editor  and  the  Rev.  E.  R.  Cassaday, 
associate  editor.3 

In  1893  the  General  Council  decided  to  set  apart  the  first 
Sunday  in  Epiphany,  each  year,  for  the  holding  of  foreign 
mission  services  and  the  collection  of  foreign  mission  offerings 
in  every  congregation  and  Sunday  school. 

The  introduction  to  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  to  the  convention  of  the  General  Council  in  1893 
ends  as  follows:  "In  this  connection  it  must  be  remarked  that 
the  missionary  societies  and  leagues  in  our  congregations, 

1  These  regulations  are  still  in  force,  except  that  the  missionary  is  given  a 
vote  only  after  having  passed  the  final  examination,  and  that  the  curriculum  of 
the  Board  of  Examiners  of  the  Protestant  Missions  hi  South  India  has  been 
adopted  and  that  the  examinations  are  conducted  by  a  committee  of  the  South 
India  Missionary  Association. 

2  Mr.,  now  Judge,  William  H.  Staake,  of  Philadelphia. 

3  The  General  Council  at  its  meeting  in  Ft.  Wayne,  Indiana,  October  5-10, 
1893,  elected  the  Rev.  J.  F.  C.  Fluck,  the  Rev.  S.  A.  Ziegenfuss  and  the  Rev.  G. 
Nelsenius  in  the  places  of  the  Revs.  M.  C.  Horine,  A.  Cordes  and  H.  V.  Hilprecht, 
Ph.  D.      The  only  layman  retained  on  the  Board,  apart  from  the  treasurer, 
William  H.  Staake,  Esquire,  was  Mr.  J.  Washington  Miller,  Mr.  William  F 
Monroe  having  withdrawn  some  time  during  the  biennium. 


INCREASING   FRUITFULNESS    (1892-93)  295 

many  of  which  are  united  in  general  bodies  and  hold  conven- 
tions, have  been  of  very  great  assistance  in  the  presentation 
of  our  work.  They  keep  the  cause  constantly  before  all  the 
members  of  the  churches  they  represent,  they  circulate  our 
papers,  they  send  out  Christmas  boxes,  and  some  of  them — 
the  leagues  of  the  Pittsburgh  Synod  and  the  women's  societies 
of  the  First  and  Second  Conferences  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Ministerium — contribute  toward  the  salaries  of  the  two 
zenana  sisters,  the  Misses  Schade  and  Sadtler. 

"On  every  side  it  seems  to  be  possible  to  discern  a  widen- 
ing and  increasing  interest  in  the  work  of  the  Board.  Word 
comes  to  us  of  young  men  and  young  women,  who  are  con- 
sidering the  question  of  preparing  themselves  for  the  service 
of  the  Lord  in  the  foreign  field.  New  names  appear  on  our 
list  of  contributors.  The  cause  of  foreign  missions  is  more 
generally  recognized  as  entitled  to  a  place  among  the  works 
of  the  Church,  claiming  the  attention  of  all  her  faithful 
members." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

FROM  A  MISSIONARY'S  DIARY  (1894) 

A  PERPLEXING  question  which  had  been  debated  at  the 
Mission  Conference  in  previous  years  was  again  discussed 
in  1894,  namely,  whether  a  man  with  more  than  one  wife 
should  be  baptized;  and  this  time  the  answer  was  a  decided 
negative.  The  ornamentation  of  the  houses  of  the  natives 
with  chalk  designs,  however,  was  declared  to  be  commendable 
because  it  promoted  cleanliness.  The  rule  was  established 
that  boarding  boys  should  not  be  allowed  to  wear  jewels  in 
their  noses  and  ears,  and  girls  none  in  their  noses.  As  for 
this  custom  among  adults,  it  was  resolved  to  discourage  the 
wearing  of  nose  jewelry  at  the  Lord's  Supper.  All  heathen 
rites  and  ceremonies  at  weddings  and  funerals  were  con- 
demned. 

After  the  convention  of  the  Mission  Conference  the  native 
agents  and  delegates  from  congregations,  about  one  hundred 
and  thirty  in  number,  were  given  a  reception  at  the  Riverdale 
bungalow.  Large  heaps  of  rice  and  curry  were  served,  the 
guests,  according  to  Hindu  custom,  being  seated  in  long 
rows  on  the  ground  in  the  open  air,  and  eating  their  portions 
from  fresh  mango  leaves  spread  out  before  them. 

On  January  5,  1894,  nine  Danish  Lutheran  missionaries 
visited  Rajahmundry.  Divine  services  were  held  the  next 
day  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  at  which  four  languages  were  used, 
namely,  Telugu,  German,  Danish  and  English.  After  the 
Mission  Conference  a  missionaries'  picnic  was  held  on  January 
i yth,  described  by  Mrs.  Kuder  as  follows:  "On  the  morning 
of  the  seventeenth  of  January  at  six  o'clock  a  merry  party, 
consisting  of  seventeen  adults  and  three  children,  left  River- 
dale  wharf.  The  party  consisted  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Schmidt, 
in  response  to  whose  invitation  the  party  had  assembled, 
eight  visiting  Danish  missionaries,  Dr.  Edman,  Mr.  Pohl,  Mr. 

296 


THE  GORGE   OF  THE  GODAYERY   RIYER 


MISSIONARIES   LIYIXG   IN   A  TENT   \VHILE   ON   TOUR 


AFTER    AN    EXAMINATION    OF    VILLAGE    SCHOOL    CHILDREN 


A  TELUGU  VILLAGE 


FROM  A  MISSIONARY'S  DIARY  (1894)  297 

Isaacson,  Miss  Sadtler,  Miss  Schade,  Mr.  Kuder  and  the 
writer.  Those  of  our  mission  circle  whose  names  are  not 
mentioned  remained  at  home  from  choice  or  necessity.  All 
aboard  the  'Shamrock,'  a  river  steamer,  the  'Dove  of  Peace' 
fastened  securely  at  one  side  and  carrying  the  cooks — a  most 
important  part  of  the  excursion — we  started  on  our  way  up 
the  beautiful  Godavery  River,  our  destination  being  the  justly 
famed  gorge  of  that  river.  .  .  .  From  our  starting  place  and 
beyond  Tallapudi  the  river  is  very  broad  and  the  country  on 
either  side  comparatively  flat;  but  the  scenery  is  not  monoto- 
nous. Many  villages  could  be  seen  along  the  shore,  and  they 
were  at  sufficiently  enchanting  distances  apart  to  render 
them  picturesque,  while  beyond  in  the  distance  were  the 
'rare  blue  hills,'  toward  which  we  were  going.  As  we  neared 
them  the  river  became  narrower  and  the  scenery  very  lovely, 
oftentimes  grand — giant  hills  towering  above  us,  clothed  in 
tropical  verdure.  The  bamboo  is  a  very  graceful,  feathery 
looking  tree,  and  many  of  the  mountain  sides  were  covered 
with  them.  At  sunset  the  first  day  we  anchored  just  this 
side  of  the  gorge  to  spend  the  night.  We  were  glad  of  the 
opportunity  to  go  ashore  here.  Some  of  the  gentlemen  went 
to  a  neighboring  village,  where,  Dr.  Schmidt  told  us,  many 
years  ago  we  had  a  teacher;  but  he  had  to  leave  on  account  of 
the  fever  which  prevails  here.  Some  of  the  gentlemen  took 
a  small  boat  and  gave  the  zenana  sisters  a  boat  ride  to  the 
other  side  of  the  river.  Mrs.  Schmidt  and  I  walked  on  the 
sandy  shore  and  watched  the  little  children  of  our  party 
playing  in  the  sand.  We  were  certainly  far  away  from  the 
'madding  crowd';  and  with  no  sound  to  disturb  us  save  the 
cry  of  some  lonely  bird,  and  with  the  charming  landscape 
of  river  and  mountain  on  which  to  feast  our  eyes,  it  was  very 
restful  to  both  mind  and  body  and  a  delightful  change  from 
the  perpetual  'tom-tom'  of  Rajahmundry. 

"Early  the  next  morning  we  entered  the  gorge.  Here  the 
river  is  narrow  and  seems  to  have  cut  its  way  in  and  out 
between  the  lofty  mountains  which  rise  many  hundreds  of 
feet  on  each  side.  The  effect  of  the  light  and  shade  of  the  early 
sunlight  heightened  the  beauty  of  the  scene.  At  the  other 


298       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

side  of  the  gorge  we  again  anchored  and  amused  ourselves 
climbing  the  mountain  side  and  hunting  ferns.  Coming 
upon  a  beautiful  mountain  stream,  we  seated  ourselves  on 
the  rocks,  and  the  man  with  the  kodak  took  a  shot  at  us. 
Our  homeward  way  was  enlivened  by  the  sight  of  several 
alligators  and  crocodiles  sunning  themselves  on  the  sand. 
At  tea  that  afternoon  many  a  vote  of  thanks  were  tendered 
our  kind  hosts.  After  a  little  delay,  caused  by  sticking  on  a 
sand-bar,  we  reached  Rajahmundry  about  9  o'clock  on  the 
evening  of  the  second  day,  a  little  tired,  but  congratulating 
ourselves  that  we  had  gone  on  this  missionaries'  picnic." 

During  the  first  two  weeks  of  February  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Pohl  with  their  children,  in  a  hired  boat,  accompanied  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Schmidt  in  the  "Dove  of  Peace"  on  a  tour  of  the 
Velpur-Bhimawaram  district.  The  following  extracts  are 
taken  from  Pohl's  diary. 

"Unikili,  February  5th.  Day  before  yesterday,  the  wind 
being  favorable,  we  reached  Velpur.  .  .  .  Directly  after 
sunrise  on  Sunday  a  boy  went  out  along  the  canal  where  the 
Christians  live  in  their  huts,  ringing  a  small  bell,  which 
was  a  signal  for  a  public  service  in  the  little,  unadorned 
chapel.  Several  Christians  came  from  neighboring  villages, 
and  the  chapel  was  filled  to  its  capacity.  We  preached  of  the 
wonderful  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  In  Arjulupalem,  where 
five  families  had  been  baptized  since  I  last  went  there,  we 
held  an  evening  service. 

"This  morning  Brother  Schmidt  and  I  went  to  Mallipudi, 
where  as  yet  we  have  no  school.  Meanwhile  the  school 
children  from  Velpur  and  Arjulupalem  had  come  to  the 
boats  to  be  examined  and  receive  their  Christmas  presents 
of  jackets,  dolls  and  pictures.  Quite  a  number  of  adults 
had  come  with  the  children,  and  while  the  children  were 
being  examined  in  the  boat,  Brother  Schmidt  attended  to 
the  sick  who  had  come  for  medicine.  At  one  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  we  sailed  farther  down  the  canal  in  our  boats  and 
reached  the  locks  at  four  o'clock.  Brother  Schmidt  and  I  at 
once  walked  over  to  Konitivada,  a  distance  of  four  miles, 
over  crooked  and  rough  roads.  It  was  late  and  dark  when 


FROM  A  MISSIONARY'S  DIARY  (1894)  299 

we  returned,  and  it  was  fortunate  that  we  carried  a  lantern, 
for  several  of  the  ditches  which  had  been  dry  in  the  afternoon 
were  filled  with  water,  and  we  were  obliged  to  walk  around 
them.  In  Konitivada  we  have  only  a  few  Christians  but  are 
sowing  the  seed  in  hope.  We  visited  the  zemindar  to  ask  for  a 
school-site  and  a  parcel  of  ground  to  be  used  as  a  cemetery. 
If  we  only  had  a  sufficient  number  of  efficient  native  workers 
we  could  make  much  better  progress  everywhere. 

"February  6th.  A  busy  day  lies  behind  us.  At  sunrise 
Christians  from  Unikili  arrived.  They  had  been  on  their  way 
to  work  in  the  fields  when  they  spied  the  mission  boat  in  the 
canal  and,  dropping  their  hoes  and  spades,  came  over  to  us. 
In  the  village  we  have  a  school  but  not  a  schoolhouse.  Three 
years  ago  there  was  not  a  single  Christian  in  the  village.  M. 
Lazarus  was  our  first  teacher  there,  and  he  did  his  work 
quietly  and  faithfully.  Now  we  have  quite  a  good  congre- 
gation in  Unikili,  and  all  of  them  gathered  this  morning  for 
service.  We  crossed  the  Gosta  Nadi  on  two  tree-trunks  bound 
together  and  laid  across  the  stream.  .  .  .  We  went  to  Kinera- 
pur,  where  we  have  a  few  Christians  but  no  school.  The  yards 
of  the  Christians  were  much  better  kept  than  those  of  other 
Malas.  They  brought  mats  and  spread  them  on  the  ground 
for  the  audience.  We  spoke  especially  to  the  non-Christians. 
.  .  .  The  Christians  of  Kinerapur  accompanied  us  to  Kanza- 
mur,  carrying  us  on  their  shoulders  over  a  number  of  wide 
ditches  filled  with  water.  After  a  long  search  a  shady  place 
was  found  in  Kanzamur,  where  we  could  hold  a  service. 

"Weary  and  hungry,  we  got  back  to  our  boats  at  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  The  school  children  of  Unikili  and  Koniti- 
vada were  waiting  to  be  examined.  It  was  4  o'clock  when, 
finally,  all  of  the  children  had  been  examined  and  received 
their  presents.  Then  we  went  to  Vandra,  where  at  8  o'clock 
we  conducted  a  service  in  the  roomy  schoolhouse,  forty  Chris- 
tians being  present.  It  had  been  a  busy  day,  and  yet  we  felt 
that  much  more  should  have  been  done;  but  how  could  we 
have  found  time  to  visit  the  other  villages  or  to  preach  to  the 
higher  caste  people  in  the  villages  we  did  visit?  'The  harvest 
truly  is  great,  but  the  laborers  are  few;  pray  ye,  therefore,  the 


300       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Lord  of  the  harvest  that  He  would  sent  forth  laborers  into  the 
harvest.' 

"February  yth.  This  morning  we  visited  the  Christians  of 
Vandra  in  their  homes  and  also  preached  to  the  non- Chris- 
tians in  the  street.  The  rest  of  the  forenoon  we  spent  in  ex- 
amining the  school  children  of  Vandra  and  of  the  evening 
school  in  Unikili,  which  enrolls  seventeen  persons.  In  the 
afternoon  we  sailed  to  Vissakoderu.  ...  It  made  us  glad  to 
see  the  large  heap  of  stones  intended  for  the  new  Bhimawaram 
Church.  They  were  brought  all  the  way  from  Dowlaish- 
waram  in  boats,  and  from  Vissakoderu  they  are  to  be 
carted  two  or  three  miles  in  bullock-carts  to  the  site  of  the 
church. 

"Gunapudi,  February  8th.  This  morning  we  went  to  Vissa- 
koderu, where  we  have  many  Christians  who  live  close  to 
each  other  and  quarrel  a  good  deal.  We  stopped  on  our  way 
at  Kalamudi,  where  we  have  neither  Christians  nor  a  school. 
In  the  shade  of  several  huts  we  preached  the  Gospel  of  the 
crucified  and  risen  One.  In  Vissakoderu  we  held  a  service 
and  examined  the  Vissakoderu  and  Srungavruksham  school- 
children. All  day  long  we  were  occupied  receiving  Christians 
of  the  vicinity  who  wished  to  speak  with  us,  and  we  gladly 
gave  them  the  opportunity.  Toward  evening  we  went  to 
Gunapudi,  where,  somewhat  late,  we  held  an  evening  service. 
The  schoolhouse  was  crowded  and  many  stood  on  the  outside, 
without,  however,  being  prevented  from  hearing  us,  for  the 
schoolhouse  has  no  walls,  being  constructed  of  four  poles 
on  which  a  roof  of  palmyra  leaves  is  stretched.  Teacher  C. 
Joseph  had  put  up  the  motto  'Welcome'  and  decorated  the 
interior  with  chains  of  colored  paper.  Many  non-Christians 
were  present,  to  whom  also  we  addressed  a  few  words  after 
the  Bible  lesson.  It  was  a  good  day  and  the  evening  was 
beautiful;  and  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  report  about  it,  even 
though  I  must  do  so  in  the  dim  light  of  a  lantern  surrounded 
by  innumerable  insects. 

"February  gth.  This  morning  we  were  driven  to  Bhima- 
waram, whither  the  Gunapudi  school  children  had  been 
directed  to  come  for  their  examinations.  Near  Gunapudi 


FROM  A  MISSIONARY'S  DIARY  (1894)  301 

lies  the  site  of  the  church.  The  excavation  has  been  finished,1 
and  in  a  few  days  the  first  stones  will  be  laid.  From  this 
place  we  can  reach  many  villages  and  at  the  same  time 
superintend  the  building  operations.  This  evening  we  held  a 
service  in  Bhimawaram. 

"February  loth.  Here  in  Bhimawaram  it  will  not  be  diffi- 
cult to  gather  over  two  thousand  Christians  for  the  consecra- 
tion of  the  church.  The  villages  all  lie  within  a  narrow  radius 
and  everywhere  the  Gospel  is  rinding  entrance.  To  be  sure, 
only  the  Malas  accept  the  message,  the  Madigas,  a  still  lower 
caste,  being  converted  by  the  Baptists. 

"Bhimawaram,  February  i4th.  To-day  the  first  stones  of 
the  foundation  of  the  new  church  were  laid.  Brother  Schmidt 
was  fully  occupied  superintending  the  work,  while  I  went  to 
Chinnamiram  and  from  there  to  Peddamiram.  In  the  latter 
we  have  120  Christians. 

"February  i5th.  The  way  to  Vaimpad  was  a  long  one. 
P.  Barnabas  came  to  meet  me  with  the  school  children.  One 
after  another  of  the  Christians  joined  us  as  we  entered  the 
village.  The  little  palm-leaf  schoolhouse  is  altogether  in- 
adequate. In  this  village  sixty-five  persons  were  baptized  one 
day  last  year.  They  are  near  relatives  of  our  Christians  at 
Gorlamudi.  After  the  Gorlamudi  Christians  had  been  bap- 
tized, one  family  after  the  other,  their  Vaimpad  relatives 
refused  to  associate  with  them,  and  were  very  angry  at  them. 
Meanwhile  our  teacher  continued  to  preach  in  Vaimpad.  Pas- 
tor Paulus  visited  the  village,  and  then  the  ice  broke,  and 
many  came  and  asked  to  be  admitted  to  holy  baptism. 

"February  igth.  Day  before  yesterday  work  on  the 
Bhimawaram  Church  had  progressed  so  far  that  Brother 
Schmidt's  personal  supervision  was  no  longer  necessary.  The 
corner-stones  were  laid  and  then  the  work  was  temporarily 
discontinued  for  lack  of  mortar. 

"February  2ist.  My  wife  went  with  me  in  the  evening  to 
Vaimpad.  The  'white  lady'  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
whole  village.  We  grasped  the  opportunity  to  preach  to  the 

1  The  work  of  digging  for  the  foundations  had  been  begun  on  December  13, 
1893. 


302       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

non-Christians.  William  played  the  violin  and  we  sang  to 
his  accompaniment.  We  trust  our  effort  was  not  entirely 
fruitless.  If  we  only  had  more  time  for  such  preaching! 

"February  23d.  After  a  night  enlivened  by  the  songs  and 
stings  of  mosquitos  my  wife  and  I  went  to  Kopilla,  where  the 
Christians  gathered  around  us.  Many  non-Christians  looked 
over  the  wall  or  stood  in  the  compound  listening.  We  sang 
a  hymn  and  then  I  preached  to  them.  We  prayed  together 
and  after  the  service  visited  the  Christians  in  their  homes. 
We  also  went  to  the  noisy  heathen  temple  and  invited  the 
Hindus  there  to  come  to  Christ.  ...  In  Kopilla  the  women 
are  learning  to  sew,  but  the  men  had  learned  the  art  better 
than  the  women  and  showed  us  their  work  with  pride.  The 
teacher,  S.  Prakasam,  had  been  an  apt  pupil  in  the  sewing 
class  in  Rajahmundry.  When  we  got  back  to  the  boat  the 
Peddamiram  school  children  were  being  examined  by  Mrs. 
Schmidt. 

"February  24th.  We  stopped  at  Gollapalem,  where  there 
are  a  number  of  inquirers.  The  principal  industry  here  is  the 
raising  of  cocoanuts.  Through  cocoanut  gardens  we  walked 
down  to  the  sea,  where  the  breakers  rolled,  foam-crested 
and  thundering,  upon  the  shore.  In  the  thick  shade  of  palm 
trees  we  were  treated  by  one  of  the  inquirers  to  fresh  cocoanut 
milk.  It  was  delicious.  The  soil  here  is  so  fertile  that  the 
cocoanut  trees  bear  fruit  six  times  a  year.  It  was  nearly  noon 
when  we  got  back  to  our  boats,  and  then  we  had  to  say  fare- 
well to  this  beautiful  spot  and  also  to  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Schmidt 
and  the  'Dove  of  Peace/  for,  while  they  went  to  Taderu,  we 
hastened  to  Narsapur  and  from  there  homeward." 

When  Pohl  got  back  to.  Rajahmundry  he  found  that  Mc- 
Cready  had  returned  to  Tallapudi  and  resumed  charge  of  that 
district,  and  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arps  had  moved  into 
the  finished  bungalow  in  Dowlaishwaram,  which  they  shared 
for  a  while  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baehnisch.1 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Schmidt  left  Rajahmundry  on  their  third 
furlough  toward  the  end  of  March,  1894,  bound  for  Denmark, 
where  they  had  left  their  daughter,  Dagmar,  to  be  educated. 

1  Schmidt  had  finished  the  building  at  an  approximate  cost  of  $1800. 


FROM  A  MISSIONARY'S  DIARY  (1894)  303 

From  Gjelstedt,  where  they  resided  during  the  fall  and  winter, 
Schmidt  was  frequently  called  away  to  deliver  missionary 
addresses  in  the  interest  of  the  Danish  Missionary  Society; 
and  he  did  so  gladly,  because  of  the  indebtedness  of  our 
Mission  to  that  society  for  its  first  missionaries. 

Mrs.  Edman  developed  symptoms  of  mental  disorder,  and 
Dr.  Edman  was  obliged  to  bring  her  back  to  America.  They 
left  Rajahmundry  with  their  two  daughters  on  April  6,  1894. 

After  Schmidt  and  Edman  had  left,  Pohl  was  given  general 
supervision  of  all  the  territory  from  Rajahmundry  to  the 
sea,  including  the  Velpur,  Jegurupad,  Samulkot  and  Bhima- 
waram  districts,  and  was  appointed  treasurer  in  India  to 
succeed  Schmidt.  Isaacson  and  Arps,  besides  studying  the 
vernacular,  assisted  him  in  the  mission  work,  the  former 
moving  to  Samulkot  and  the  latter  living  at  Dowlaishwaram. 
In  Germany  Arps  had  learned  the  Franz  Otto  system  of 
medicine,  which  he  practised  in  India  and  with  which  he 
succeeded  in  relieving  many  natives  of  minor  ills  and  aches. 

At  Muramunda  a  new  chapel  was  built  and  consecrated  on 
December  6,  1894.  All  the  missionaries  except  Isaacson  were 
present  and  took  part  in  the  services  of  consecration.  Pohl 
described  the  new  building  as  follows:  "It  is  fifty  feet  long 
and  sixteen  feet  wide.  The  window-frames  are  filled  in  with 
so-called  bee-hive  work,  made  of  round  tiles,  allowing  air 
and  light  to  enter.  The  floor,  made  of  mud,  is  covered  with 
a  bamboo  mat  for  the  congregation  to  sit  on.  The  elevated 
altar  space  is  decorated  with  a  window  one  foot  wide  and 
five  feet  high,  constructed  of  stained  glass,  the  work  of  one 
of  our  boys,  Alexander.  On  one  side  of  the  window  are  the 
words,  'I  am  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life,  saith  the  Lord'; 
on  the  other  side,  'Him  that  cometh  to  Me,  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out';  and  above  the  arch,  'Behold  the  Lamb  of  God, 
Who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.'  The  altar  table  is 
covered  with  a  white  cloth  that  has  a  red  velvet  border  in 
which  my  wife  embroidered  the  words,  'Lord  have  mercy  upon 
us.'  Of  course,  all  these  verses  are  in  Telugu.  The  altar, 
pulpit  and  baptismal  font  were  made  in  Rajahmundrv  by  our 
carpenter-boys." 


304       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Concerning  the  Artman  Poor  Mohammedan  Girls'  School 
Miss  Schade  wrote:  "In  spite  of  the  opposition  or  indifference 
shown  by  the  different  factions  among  the  Mohammedans, 
the  work  has  been  carried  on;  but  after  a  year's  trial  the 
prospects  remained  the  same  and  it  was  thought  that  the 
time,  strength,  energy  and  money  expended  on  this  school 
might  be  much  more  profitably  spent  elsewhere,  and  that  its 
present  state  rather  hindered  than  furthered  the  cause  among 
the  Mohammedans.  It  has,  therefore,  been  decided  to  dis- 
continue the  school  after  August  ist."  The  school,  however, 
was  continued  somewhat  longer. 

During  the  year  1894  the  zenana  work  was  reorganized 
by  the  Misses  Schade  and  Sadtler.  The  former  wrote :  "When 
it  was  understood  that  we  were  prepared  to  begin  work, 
we  were  visited  by  some  of  the  native  gentlemen,  Brahmins 
and  Sudras,  who  were  anxious  to  have  their  wives  taught. 
We  agreed  to  come  to  their  homes  if  they  would  form  classes 
by  getting  other  women  to  join  their  wives.  To  this  they 
consented.  We  now  spend  two  hours,  from  three  to  five  in 
the  afternoon,  with  each  class.  The  women  are  very  happy 
while  we  are  with  them.  They  listen  quite  willingly  to  the 
Bible  lesson  and  are  also  taught  sewing  and  fancy  work. 
As  our  work  grows  we  will  certainly  have  to  use  native  women 
as  helpers." 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1894  Kuder  furnished  the  following 
resume  of  the  work  in  the  boarding  schools:  "The  year  just 
closing  was  a  good  one  for  the  Seminary.  For  the  first  time 
in  its  history  it  has  closed  with  over  100  boarding  boys  in 
attendance.  The  total  number  on  the  rolls  on  the  last  school 
day  was  240.  We  accept  the  patronage  of  Hindu  boys  most 
unwillingly.  To  shield  ourselves  we  imposed  fees.  These 
were,  however,  cheerfully  paid.  The  number  of  Hindus  in- 
creased almost  daily  until  we  were  obliged  to  refuse  admission 
to  any  more.  The  Hindu  boys  are  required  to  attend  Bible 
instruction  and  also  some  religious  lessons,  and  seed  may  fall 
into  waiting  soil.  A  step  in  the  right  direction,  that  we  hope 
soon  to  take,  is  the  separation  of  our  boys  and  girls  into  two 
distinct  schools.  Since  we  have  zenana  sisters  who  are  willing 


FROM  A  MISSIONARY'S  DIARY  (1894)  305 

and  competent  to  assume  control  of  the  girls'  schools,  we  will 
put  an  end  to  the  co-educational  system.  The  girls'  boarding 
school  is  then  to  be  made  a  medium  for  the  preparation  of 
Christian  girls  and  women  to  assist  in  zenana  classes.  For 
this  purpose  we  are  trying  to  rent  a  house  easily  accessible 
from  the  Zenana  Home.  Another  separation  we  would  like 
to  make  is  the  divorce  of  the  school  from  the  present  school- 
house.  We  have  thirty  acres  of  land  in  a  lovely  situation  for 
the  site  of  our  new  Seminary.  The  plans  have  been  prepared 
and  all  that  is  now  wanting  is  the  command  to  go  up  and 
possess  the  land." 

In  1894  the  need  of  a  hospital  and  medical  work  in  con- 
nection with  our  Mission  began  to  be  seriously  agitated. 
At  its  meeting  in  November,  that  year,  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  resolved,  "that  we,  as  a  Board,  proceed  to  move  in 
the  direction  of  providing  a  hospital  at  such  a  place  within 
our  field  in  India  as  may  hereafter  be  determined,  and  that  the 
Mission  Council  be  requested  to  give  us  its  views  on  the  sub- 
ject." 

The  organized  women's  missionary  societies  in  the  General 
Council  responded  enthusiastically  to  this  proposal  of  the 
Board  and  began  at  once  to  raise  funds  for  a  hospital  for 
women  and  children  at  Rajahmundry,  the  Board  having 
decided  that  if  the  women's  societies  furnished  the  necessary 
funds,  the  hospital  should  be  for  women  and  children  only, 
for  whose  medical  and  surgical  treatment  the  Government 
hospitals  and  dispensaries  made  no  adequate  provision. 

At  the  suggestion  of  the  Board  the  Women's  Home  and 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Philadelphia  Conferences 
of  the  Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania  made  an  effort  to  secure  a 
woman  physician  to  be  sent  to  India  at  once.  The  following 
appeal  was  published  in  the  December,  1894,  issue  of  "The 
Foreign  Missionary":  "Wanted,  a  woman  medical  mis- 
sionary. For  some  time  past  it  has  been  well  known  to  the 
executive  committee  of  the  Women's  Home  and  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  Philadelphia  Conferences  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania  that  there  is 
urgent  need  of  a  woman  medical  missionary  within  the 


306       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

General  Council's  Mission  in  India.  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed last  August  and  instructed  to  secure  the  medical  mis- 
sionary, if  possible.  Thus  far  the  efforts  of  the  committee 
have  been  unsuccessful,  and,  therefore,  this  public  appeal  is 
addressed  to  the  women  physicians  in  the  General  Council 
of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Will  not  one  earnest,  Christian 
woman  volunteer  for  this  important  work?  Address  Mrs. 
H.  E.  Jacobs,  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  or  Miss  Mary  Welden, 
871  Holly  Street,  Philadelphia." 

No  one  volunteered,  and  so  the  society  reverted  to  the  first 
suggestion  of  the  Board  and  began  to  look  for  a  young  lady 
willing  to  take  a  course  in  medicine  with  the  view  of  becoming 
a  medical  missionary. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   JUBILEE  YEAR   (1895) 

THE  year  of  the  Jubilee  of  the  foreign  mission  work  of  the 
General  Council  in  India,  1895,  came  and  went  without  any 
special  celebration  in  America;  but  in  India  a  three  days' 
celebration  was  held  in  November  at  Rajahmundry,  at  which 
quite  a  number  of  missionaries  from  other  Lutheran  Missions 
in  India  were  present.1  The  Guntur  and  Breklum  Missions 
were  well  represented.  Among  those  who  delivered  addresses 
were  the  Provost  of  the  Leipsic  Mission,  the  Rev.  K. 
Pamperrien,  and  the  Rev.  Harless  of  the  Breklum  Mission.2 

At  its  meeting  in  February,  1895,  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  resolved  to  "instruct  the  Mission  Council  in  India 
to  take  steps  to  provide  a  Seminary  building,  look  up  a  proper 
site  and  send  plans,  with  a  view  of  laying  the  corner-stone 
this  Jubilee  Year."  The  condition  of  the  school  really  de- 
manded new  and  more  adequate  buildings.  Kuder  wrote  in 
1895:  "When  I  came  here  four  years  ago  the  number  of 
pupils  I  found  in  the  Seminary  was  between  125  and  150. 
It  was  then  already  generally  admitted  that  the  building  was 
inconvenient,  too  small  and  too  poorly  equipped.  Two  years 
ago  it  became  necessary  to  overhaul  an  old  room  adjoining 
the  church  building.  Last  year  it  was  again  necessary  to 
repair  another  room,  and  when  this  was  not  found  sufficient, 
a  cheap  shed,  the  walls  of  which  are  bamboo  mats  and  the 
roof  of  palmyra  leaves,  was  rushed  up.  This  year  a  similar 
but  larger  shed  will  have  to  be  erected.  The  school  now 
contains  265  children  and  they  are  still  coming." 

1  At  the  same  time  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  arrival  of  Schmidt  at 
Rajahmundry  was  celebrated. 

2  In  the  following  spring  the  Rev.  Mr.   Harless,  on  his  way  back  from 
Madras,  whither  he  had  gone  to  send  his  wife  and  children  home  to  Germany, 
was  taken  seriously  ill  at  the  railway  station  in  Rajahmundry  and  was  removed 
to  the  home  of  Rev.  E.  Pohl,  where  he  died  of  fever  on  March  26,  1896. 

307 


308       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

A  tract  of  land  containing  thirty  acres  just  outside  of 
Rajahmundry,  presented  to  the  Mission  by  Dr.  H.  C.  Schmidt, 
was  selected  as  the  site  of  the  new  buildings.  Plans  were  sub- 
mitted to  the  Board  and  approved  by  it.  A  building  com- 
mittee in  India  was  appointed  by  the  Board,  consisting 
of  Kuder,  chairman,  Schmidt  and  Pohl.  Kuder  began  by 
digging  a  well  to  insure  a  good  supply  of  water.  Material 
was  being  gathered  and  the  foundations  were  about  to  be 
laid,  when  Schmidt  again  reached  the  field  after  a  furlough  in 
Germany  and  America.  He  objected  to  the  arrangements 
which  had  been  made  and  to  the  plans,  some  difficulty  arose 
with  regard  to  the  transfer  of  the  site  to  the  Mission,  the 
Board's  treasury  became  somewhat  embarrassed  because  of 
a  lack  of  funds  and  the  whole  undertaking  was  indefinitely 
postponed. 

In  India  the  Jubilee  Year  was  inaugurated  by  the  consecra- 
tion of  the  new  Emmanuel  Chapel  a£  Dowlaishwaram,1 
on  the  gth  of  January,  during  the  meeting  of  the  Mission 
Conference.  All  the  native  agents,  160  in  number,  attended 
the  service  of  consecration.  McCready  and  Arps  conducted 
the  last  service  in  the  old  schoolhouse.  Ten  missionaries, 
including  a  number  of  visiting  missionaries,  all  in  clerical 
robes,  led  the  procession  to  the  door  of  the  new  building, 
where  the  24th  Psalm  was  read  responsively  by  Arps  and  the 
school  children.  Baehnisch  read  the  first  Scripture  lesson 
(Genesis  28:16-19);  Kuder,  the  second  (Psalm  122);  Isaacson, 
the  third  (Psalm  84);  Pastor  Joseph,  the  fourth  (Luke  19:1- 
10);  Pastor  Paulus,  the  fifth  and  sixth  (Psalm  51  and  I  Kings 
8:1-13,  22-30).  Pohl  preached  the  sermon  and  performed  the 
act  of  consecration.  Arps  offered  the  prayer  of  consecration 
and  baptized  an  infant,  his  first  baptism  as  a  missionary. 
Missionary  Schultze  of  the  Breklum  Mission  pronounced  the 
benediction.  In  the  evening  a  supper  of  rice  and  curry  was 
served. 
All  of  the  Rajahmundry  missionaries  attended  the  First 

1  This  chapel  is  45  feet  long  and  15  feet  wide  with  an  altar  niche  8  feet  wide. 
It  has  now  become  entirely  inadequate,  and  a  larger  building,  for  which  plans 
and  specifications  have  been  approved  by  the  Board,  should  be  provided. 


EMMANUEL'S    CHAPEL    AT    DOWLAISHWARAM 


THE   HOME   OF  THE  MISSIONARY   AT   DOWLAISHWARAM 


AUGUSTANA    CHURCH    AT    SAMULKOT 


INTERIOR   OF    SAMULKOT    CHURCH 


THE    JUBILEE    YEAR    (1895)      *  309 

Joint  Conference  of  Lutheran  Missions  in  the  Telugu  country, 
held  at  Guntur,  January  17-19,  1895.  Besides  the  Guntur 
and  Rajahmundry  Missions  the  Schleswig-Holstein  or  Brek- 
lum  and  the  Hermannsburg  Missions  sent  delegates.1 

After  this  Conference  Arps  went  back  to  Dowlaishwaram 
to  take  independent  charge  of  that  district,  assisted  by 
Pastor  Joseph  and  18  teachers.  "Here  in  the  town  of  Dow- 
laishwaram," he  wrote,  "four  different  denominations  have 
congregations,  namely,  the  Roman  Catholics,  the  Plymouth 
Brethren,  the  Canadian  Baptists  and  the  Lutherans.  This 
is  to  be  deplored,  but  being  the  case  it  becomes  necessary  for 
our  Christians  and  especially  for  our  teachers  to  know  what  is 
Lutheran."  Arps  got  a  box  of  medicines  for  epileptics  from 
Bielefeld,  Germany,  in  January,  1895,  and  began  the  treat- 
ment of  19  persons  afflicted  with  this  dread  disease,  some  of 
whom  he  was  able  to  relieve.  Concerning  the  work  of  a  foreign 
missionary  he  wrote:  "It  is,  indeed,  a  high  honor  to  be  a  mis- 
sionary among  heathen;  but  only  for  one  who  can  accept  the 
darker  hours  with  a  grateful  heart  and  can  subdue  the  evil 
powers  with  patient  confidence  of  faith.  Believe  me,  there  are 
times  when  a  missionary  would  rather  break  stones  than  do 
the  work  of  a  missionary.  Nevertheless,  love  for  the  poor 
heathen  will  finally  overcome  all  hindrances,  all  their  wiles 
and  wickedness,  all  their  pride  and  blindness,  all  their  un- 
gratefulness and  hardness  of  heart." 

Miss  Sadtler  left  Rajahmundry  on  April  8th,  the  Board 
having  given  her  special  permission  to  return  to  the  United 
States  in  order  to  attend  the  golden  wedding  anniversary 
of  her  parents,  the  Rev.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Benjamin  Sadtler,  of 
Baltimore,  Md.  "Holy  week,"  wrote  Pohl,  "saw  the  depar- 
ture of  Miss  Sadtler.  Palm  Sunday  afternoon  the  congre- 
gation at  Rajahmundry  assembled  for  an  hour  of  prayer,  and 
we  prayed  God  to  give  our  sister  a  safe  journey  home.  Our 
Christians  presented  her,  whom  they  all  respect  and  love,  a 

1  Those  who  took  part  in  the  program  were  Unangst,  Uhl,  Wolf,  Harpster, 
Aberly,  Dr.  Anna  Kugler  and  Miss  A.  L.  Sadtler,  of  the  Guntur  Mission;  Kuder, 
Pohl  and  Miss  Agnes  I.  Schade,  of  the  Rajahmundry  Mission;  Schultze  and 
Harless,  of  the  Breklum  Mission;  Woerrlein  and  Maneke,  of  the  Hermannsburg 
Mission. 


310       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

beautifully  bound  Telugu  Bible.  We  shall  miss  her  very 
much.  She  has  the  happy  faculty  of  seeing  the  bright  side  of 
things." 

After  Easter  Pohl  made  his  first  trip  to  Gonegudem, 
Chodawaram  and  Rampa  in  the  hill  country.  Of  Choda- 
waram  he  wrote:  "I  had  imagined  it  to  be  a  small  village,  but 
it  consists  of  nothing  more  than  a  police-station,  a  rest-house, 
a  hospital  of  three  little  rooms,  unoccupied,  half  a  dozen  small 
buildings  for  native  officials,  also  unoccupied,  and  a  few  huts. 
Around  each  building  a  bamboo  fence  is  built  to  about  a  man's 
height,  as  a  means  of  defence  against  the  possible  attack  of 
jungle  tribes."  Rampa  he  found  to  consist  of  only  twenty 
huts  built  in  two  separate  clusters  of  ten  each,  about  half  a 
mile  apart  in  the  midst  of  the  jungle.  Of  the  hill  tribes  he 
said,  "How  different  they  are  from  the  Telugus  in  physiog- 
nomy and  customs!  With  fiery  patriotism  they  speak  of  the 
times  of  the  Pituri,  the  rebellion  and  the  loss  of  their  ancient 
rights,  which  led  them  to  rebel.  In  Rampa  and  Durachin- 
tapalem,  ten  miles  apart,  we  have  twenty-five  Christians, 
nine  of  whom  are  communicants."1 

In  accordance  with  a  resolution  of  the  Mission  Council 
adopted  in  January,  1894,  and  approved  by  the  Board,  the 
boarding  girls  were  withdrawn  from  the  "Seminary"  and  or- 
ganized as  a  separate  school  under  the  direction  of  Miss  Agnes 
I.  Schade.  A  building  was  rented  at  60  rupees  a  month,  and  the 
school  was  opened  June  1 8, 1895,  with  19  boarders  and  25  day 
pupils.  By  the  end  of  the  first  month  the  number  of  boarders 
had  increased  to  29.  The  school  building  contained  but  three 
rooms,  each  14  feet  long  and  12  feet  wide.  The  verandah  had 
to  be  used  to  accommodate  some  of  the  classes.  Besides 
her  work  in  connection  with  this  school,  Miss  Schade  under- 
took to  manage  the  Hindu  Girls'  School  at  Riverdale, 
the  Artman  Mohammedan  Girls'  School  and  the  zenana 
work. 

After  the  girls  had  been  withdrawn,  the  Seminary  was  con- 

1  Pohl  baptized  two  persons  on  this  visit  to  Rampa.  On  his  homeward  way 
he  visited  Jembupatnam  and  Srirangapatnam,  where  a  few  inquirers  resided; 
Nallakonda,  where  a  service  was  held;  Kateru  and  Gadala,  where  a  few  Chris- 
tians lived. 


THE    JUBILEE    YEAR    (1895)  311 

tinued  as  a  Boys'  Boarding  School  under  Kuder;  134  boys 
were  enrolled,1  changes  were  made  in  the  staff  of  teachers,2 
and  the  promising  graduates  of  the  Lower  Secondary  Depart- 
ment were  sent  to  the  Government  High  School  in  the  town. 
A  new  curriculum  of  Bible  studies  for  those  who  expected  to 
become  teachers  in  the  Mission  was  introduced,  including 
Biblical  History,  Church  History,  Biblical  Introduction, 
Bible  Geography,  Catechism  and  a  little  Homiletics. 

The  question  of  Industrial  Schools  in  connection  with  the 
Mission  was  revived  at  this  time,  and  the  Board  was  pressed 
for  a  decision.  Lace-making  had  been  begun  again;  Mc- 
Cready  continued  to  carry  on  the  industry  of  tile-making  at 
Tallapudi;  and  Schmidt  had  developed  the  work  of  the  prin- 
tery  at  Rajahmundry.  The  Board  discussed  this  question  in 
its  report  to  the  General  Council  hi  1895,  as  follows:  "Our 
missionaries,  some  hold,  are  sent  out  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
and  to  allow  them  to  spend  their  tune  in  the  carrying  on  of  this 
or  that  industry  seems  to  them  to  be,  to  say  the  least,  a  misuse 
of  their  time  and  talents.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  said,  they 
must  necessarily  do  other  things  besides  that  of  preaching  the 
Gospel,  as  for  instance,  the  erection  of  houses  for  themselves, 
of  schools  and  churches;  and  whether  the  supervision  of  an 
industrial  school  is  not  only  another  branch  of  the  work  of  a 
missionary  is  a  question  that  is  not  so  easily  answered." 
The  Board  refused  to  assume  any  responsibility  for  the  indus- 
trial work  already  established,  discouraged  its  development 
and  declined  to  approve  any  new  industrial  enterprise.3 

1  Of  these,  120  were  supported  by  scholarships  in  America.    The  school 
received  Rs.  310  government  grant  during  1894-5. 

2  R.  Samuel  took  K.  Gabriel's  place.    M.  William  was  discharged  and  L. 
Johann  employed  in  his  stead.    N.  Charles,  a  son  of  Pastor  Paulus,  was  added 
to  the  staff.    M.  Devadas  was  sent  to  the  local  Normal  School;  K.  Gabriel  and 
B.  Anandam  to  the  Government  High  School.    A  gymnastic  master  was  em- 
ployed at  Rs.  1 2  a  month. 

3  On  January  27,  1896,  the  Board  adopted  the  following  resolutions:  "This 
Board  is  not  in  a  position  either  to  institute  anything  new  or  to  continue  work 
now  hi  operation,  unless  it  can  be  done  without  expense  to  this  Board.    Re- 
solved, therefore,  That  this  Board  in  accordance  with  its  action  taken  at  its 
meeting  July  15,  1895,  will  not  institute  any  new  industrial  schools  or  continue 
those  already  established  unless  they  can  be  continued  or  instituted  without  any 
expense  to  this  Board  at  this  time — for  financial  reasons;  and  be  it  further 
Resolved,  That  if  a  missionary  thinks  it  proper  and  desirable  to  continue  or 
organize  an  industrial  school — such  schools  at  no  time  to  be  an  expense  to  our 


312       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

The  question  of  building  a  sanitarium  for  our  missionaries  and 
their  families  somewhere  on  the  hills  or  at  the  seashore  was 
also  decided  adversely  by  the  Board,  because  "the  demands 
of  other  parts  of  the  work  seemed  to  be  of  greater  importance." 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Schmidt  with  their  daughter  came  to  America 
from  Denmark  in  the  spring  of  1895,  reaching  Philadelphia 
April  ipth.  He  was  in  great  demand  as  a  lecturer  on  our 
Telugu  Mission  in  India  and  carried  out  an  extensive  itinerary. 
He  met  with  the  Board  six  times  during  the  year,  and  his  advice 
concerning  the  proposed  hospital,  sanitarium,  Seminary  site 
and  buildings,  new  rules  and  regulations  for  the  Mission  and 
other  matters  was  very  useful.  Among  other  matters  that  of 
establishing  a  High  School  for  boys  at  Peddapur  was  dis- 
cussed, but  no  definite  conclusion  was  reached.  Dr.  Edman, 
who  had  drawn  the  attention  of  the  Board  to  this  subject  at  a 
conference  with  the  Board  in  April,  urged  that  the  boys' 
school  which  he  had  begun  at  Peddapur  in  1891,  as  a  primary 
school,  and  which  was  attended  by  a  large  number  of  Brahmin 
boys,  should  be  raised  to  the  standard  of  a  high  school  or 
college,  and  Schmidt  seconded  the  proposal,  but  the  Board 
hesitated.1 

Another  interesting  subject  which  Schmidt  discussed  with 
the  Board  was  his  land  endowment  scheme.  At  its  meeting 
on  July  loth,  a  letter  was  read  to  the  Board  from  Mr.  John 
G.  Haas  of  Lancaster,  Pa.,  in  which  he  stated  that  he  had 
given  Dr.  Schmidt  the  sum  of  $3000  with  which  to  build  a 
church  in  India,  in  memory  of  his  departed  wife,  Charlotte 
Sophia,  and  $5000  in  addition  to  be  kept  as  a  trust  fund,  the 
proceeds  of  which  were  to  be  used  for  the  support  of  a  native 
pastor  who  should  serve  the  congregation  worshipping  in  the 
memorial  church.  "Dr.  Schmidt,"  continue  the  Board's  min- 

treasury — such  work  shall  be  under  the  supervision  of  the  Mission  Council, 
reports  of  its  progress  shall  be  made  regularly  to  the  Council,  and  all  profits 
accruing  therefrom  shall  be  paid  into  the  Mission  treasury." 

1  This  school  at  Peddapur  was  continued  by  Isaacson,  who,  in  March,  1895, 
raised  it  to  the  grade  of  a  Lower  Secondary  School,  and  placed  it  in  charge  of 
Ramo  Rao,  as  headmaster.  This  school  met  all  of  its  expenses  from  fees  and 
government  grant  and  from  the  private  purse  of  the  Isaacsons.  In  1897  a 
large  building  was  rented  and  occupied  by  the  Lower  Secondary  Department, 
the  Primary  Department  remaining  in  the  old  building  as  a  separate  department. 


THE    JUBILEE    YEAR    (1895)  313 

utes,  "explained  that  he  had  received  these  $8000  at  differ- 
ent times  for  the  purpose  specified,  that  he  had  placed  the 
money  at  interest,  and  that  the  reason  he  had  not  mentioned 
it  before  was  that  it  was  Mr.  Haas'  expressed  desire  not  to 
have  it  mentioned.  Dr.  Schmidt  stated  that  he  had  com- 
menced building  the  memorial  church  near  Mahadevipatnam, 
which  by  resolution  he  was  authorized  to  complete  according 
to  the  desire  of  the  donor;  and  the  balance  of  the  $8000  was  to 
be  invested  in  land  in  India."  It  was,  furthermore,  resolved  by 
the  Board  to  request  the  Mission  Council  in  India  to  suggest 
some  one  who  might  be  called  as  the  native  pastor  of  the  con- 
gregation, when  organized;  and  the  thanks  of  the  Board  was 
expressed  to  Mr.  Haas  for  his  generous  gifts. 

Other  gifts  for  special  objects  received  during  1895,  were 
those  of  the  Sunday  school  of  St.  Johannis'  Church,  Reading, 
Pa.,  and  of  two  brothers,  members  of  the  same  congregation, 
for  the  support  of  the  native  pastors  Joseph  and  Paulus,  and 
one  of  $600,  secured  through  Mrs.  H.  E.  Jacobs  from  two 
unnamed  donors,  husband  and  wife,  for  a  new  mission-boat 
which  was  named  the  "Margaret"  and  was  used  by  Arps  in 
the  Dowlaishwaram  district. 

While  the  Women's  Missionary  Society  of  the  Philadelphia 
Conferences  was  looking  for  a  woman  physician  willing  to  go 
to  India,  it  learned  of  the  desire  of  Miss  Charlotte  Swenson 
of  Axtell,  Kan.,  to  become  a  foreign  missionary,  and  presented 
her  name  to  the  Board.  Upon  the  recommendation  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Swedish  Augustana  Synod  and  after  having  passed 
a  satisfactory  medical  examination,  she  was  called  by  the 
Board  on  May  27,  1895. 

Charlotte  Swenson,  the  third  woman  missionary  of  the 
General  Council,  was  born  January  8,  1870,  in  Langhult, 
Himryd,  Sweden.  She  was  taken  to  America  by  her  parents, 
Anders  and  Anna  Maria  Swenson,  when  she  was  eight  years 
old.  The  family  lived  at  Axtell,  Kansas,  where  her  father 
died  in  1879.  She  was  confirmed  in  the  Swedish  Lutheran 
Church  near  Axtell.  She  attended  Bethany  College,  Linds- 
borg,  Kan.,  and  was  graduated  from  its  Normal  Department. 
Having  accepted  the  call  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 


314   THE  TELUGU  MISSION  OF  THE  GENERAL  COUNCIL 

she  was  commissioned  on  July  17,  1895,  'm  St.  James'  German 
Lutheran  Church,  Philadelphia.  This  service  was  also  a  fare- 
well meeting  with  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Schmidt,  in  whose  company 
Miss  Swenson  sailed  from  New  York  on  July  2oth.  They 
reached  Rajahmundry  in  the  midst  of  a  cyclonic  storm  on 
September  5th. 

After  his  arrival  in  India  Schmidt  resumed  charge  of  the 
Bhimawaram  and  the  Rajahmundry-Korukonda  districts, 
Pohl  taking  the  oversight  of  the  newly  formed  Tadepal- 
ligudem  district  with  headquarters  in  the  town  of  the  same 
name,  where  he  supervised  the  erection  of  a  missionary's 
residence.  Unable  to  secure  the  material  which  he  wanted, 
it  became  necessary  for  him  to  choose  and  cut  down  trees, 
have  them  sawed  into  boards  and  carted  to  the  building  place, 
make  the  lime  and  the  bricks  under  his  personal  supervision, 
and,  indeed,  give  his  personal  attention  to  every  detail  of 
construction. 

The  Board  reported  the  following  statistics  for  the  Jubilee 
Year  at  the  convention  of  the  General  Council  in  Easton, 
Pa.,  October  9-15,  1895: 

Foreign  missionaries  ..........  8  Number  of  Christians  ........  4484 

Wives  of  missionaries  .........  8  Communicants  ..............  1  763 

Woman  missionaries  ..........  3  Stations  and  out-stations  .....  198 

Native  pastors  ...............  2  Schools  .....................  102 

Native  workers  ..............  143  Pupils  in  school  ..............  1893 

In  May,  1895,  the  Board  increased  the  amount  allowed 
per  quarter  for  general  expenses  in  India  to  $1400,  and  in 
October,  to  $1500.  The  receipts  of  the  Board  for  the  bien- 
nium,  1893-95,  were  $40,783.61;  the  expenditures,  $37,333.39. 
This  was  an  increase  of  receipts  over  the  previous  biennium 
of  $7927.09,  and  an  increase  of  expenditures  amounting  to 


1  The  Rev.  Carl  A.  Blomgren,  Ph.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Heischmann,  D.  D., 
were  elected  by  the  General  Council  to  take  the  places  of  the  Revs.  G.  Nelsenius 
and  E.  Elofscn.  At  its  reorganization  meeting  after  the  General  Council  the 
Board  re-elected  its  former  officers. 


CHAPTER  XV 

DISSENSION  IN  THE   MISSION   (1896-99) 

POHL  was  busily  engaged  during  the  year  1896  in  the  erec- 
tion of  the  Tadepalligudem  bungalow  and  chapel.  In  Sep- 
tember he  finished  the  latter,  and  occupied  it  temporarily  with 
his  family  as  a  dwelling.  On  one  of  the  last  Sundays  in 
February,  1899,  while  Miss  Sadtler  was  on  a  visit  to  Tade- 
palligudem, the  first  service  was  held  in  the  chapel.  "Building 
is  slow  in  India,"  she  wrote,  "especially  as  our  missionaries 
have  usually  had  the  bricks  and  tiles  burned,  the  logs  sawed 
and  then  made  into  doors  and  windows  under  their  personal 
supervision.  This  was  the  case  with  Mr.  Pohl.  When  work 
was  first  begun  on  the  site  he  sometimes  lived  in  a  small  boat 
which  he  had  fitted  up,  and  later  he  slept  in  a  shed  with  a 
palmyra-leaf  roof.  Still  later  he  occupied  the  church  which 
was  the  first  building  finished.  During  my  recent  visit  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Pohl  and  their  children  were  living  there.  While  the 
necessary  supervision  of  the  work  went  on,  the  Christians  of 
neighboring  villages  were  visited.  It  was  odd  to  see  the  in- 
genious contrivances  which  were  made  to  answer  the  purpose 
of  necessary  furniture.  The  box,  for  instance,  in  which  the 
church  bell  came  from  Philadelphia,  was  converted  into  a 
table.  During  my  visit  we  were  only  one  day  in  the  church, 
when  Mr.  Pohl  proposed  that  we  move  to  the  kitchen.  We 
moved  Saturday  afternoon  and  took  possession  of  the  three 
small  rooms  in  it.  ...  The  new  bungalow  is  conveniently 
arranged,  differing  from  most  houses  hi  having  gothic  arches 
above  the  windows  and  on  the  verandahs,  which  greatly  add 
to  its  appearance.  The  iron  trusses  which  support  the  roof 
have  just  been  placed,  and  as  soon  as  the  necessary  carpenter 
work  is  done  the  tiles  can  be  laid.  After  we  moved  from  the 
church  it  was  all  cleaned  and  prepared  for  the  service  next 
day.  Mr.  Pohl  had  just  had  the  altar,  made  of  teak  wood  with 

315 


316       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL   COUNCIL 

carving  on  it,  brought  from  Rajahmundry.  This  was  put  in 
its  place.  On  Sunday  morning  the  new  bell  from  Philadelphia, 
which  has  a  clear,  pleasing  ring,  called  the  people  from  Tade- 
palligudem  and  a  neighboring  village  to  service.  A  few 
benches  were  put  in  the  rear  and  so  placed  as  to  allow  room  for 
the  school-children  and  women,  who  prefer  sitting  on  the 
floor.  The  altar  cloth  sent  by  Miss  Emma  Endlich  was  used, 
and  Mr.  Pohl  wore  the  gown.  A  white  gown  is  used  during  the 
hot  season.  It  was  the  first  service  at  which  all  was  in  order. 
The  Telugu  Church  Book  was  used,  the  carpenter  boys  from 
Rajahmundry  rendering  good  assistance  in  the  singing.  Mr. 
Pohl  spoke  to  the  congregation  in  the  form  of  a  catechisation, 
as  this  method  suited  the  comprehension  of  the  people  better 
than  a  regular  sermon.  The  church  was  well  filled  with 
Christians,  and  he  made  the  parable  of  the  sower  very  plain 
to  them.  At  three  o'clock  he  held  a  Sunday  school  for  the 
children.  At  4.30  p.  M.  I  accompanied  him  to  Pentapad,  four 
of  our  Christian  carpenters  going  with  us.  Reaching  the 
place,  we  walked  through  the  bazaar  or  market  place,  where 
grain,  tobacco,  cloths  and  other  materials  were  for  sale. 
Tracts,  Telugu  and  English,  were  given  to  the  people  who 
could  read  and  would  take  them.  Mr.  Pohl,  the  Christian 
boys  and  I,  seated  on  a  chair,  were  soon  hid  from  view  by  the 
crowd  of  men  and  boys  who  listened  to  the  singing  of  our 
hymns,  and  Mr.  Pohl  spoke  earnestly  to  them.  There  was  no 
disturbance.  Occasionally  questions  were  asked.  It  was 
quite  dark  when  we  again  reached  the  house.  At  eight  o'clock 
in  the  evening  Mr.  Pohl  again  held  a  service  in  the  church, 
some  Christians  from  a  distant  village  being  able  to  come 
then  better  than  in  the  morning.  After  church,  at  9.45  P.  M., 
while  we  were  seated  in  the  house  conversing,  half  a  dozen 
men  came  to  talk  to  Mr.  Pohl  about  religion.  He  took  a  chair 
and  a  candle  and  went  into  the  unfinished  bungalow  and 
talked  with  them  until  nearly  eleven  o'clock.  They  were 
earnest  inquirers  and  wanted  a  teacher  to  be  sent  to  their 
village,  but  their  request  could  not  be  granted  because,  at 
present,  instructions  from  the  Board  tell  us  not  to  undertake 
any  new  work.  Do  you  not  call  this  a  full  Sunday's  work?" 


DISSENSION   IN   THE    MISSION    (1896-99)  317 

The  Board  and  the  Mission  entertained  the  hope  that  Pohl 
would  be  allowed  to  remain  indefinitely  or,  at  least,  long 
enough  to  complete  the  building  operations  at  Tadepalli- 
gudem;  but  the  Schleswig-Holstein  Mission  Society,  after 
having  given  notice  a  number  of  times  of  its  desire  to  recall 
him,  insisted,  in  1897,  that  he  should  withdraw  from  the 
Rajahmundry  Mission;  and  in  August,  that  year,  he  left  the 
field  to  go  to  Parvatipur,  Vizagapatam  district,  a  station  in 
the  Breklum  Mission.  In  its  report  to  the  General  Council 
in  1897  the  Board  bore  him  the  following  testimony:  "His 
seven  years  of  labor  before  he  came  to  our  Mission  gave  him 
an  experience  that  made  him  a  valuable  and  efficient  mission- 
ary, and  his  fidelity  to  his  calling  and  his  Lord  secured  for  his 
labors  a  blessing  from  God  that  none  could  fail  to  recognize." 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  1895  Baehnisch  was  granted 
a  six  months'  leave  of  absence  in  order  to  take  his  wife  back 
to  Germany,  in  the  hope  that  her  impaired  health  would  be 
restored;  but  while  in  Germany  he  resigned  and  his  resigna- 
tion was  accepted  to  take  effect  on  January  31,  1897. 

Mrs.  Kuder,  on  account  of  weakness  and  desirous  of  pro- 
viding for  the  education  of  the  elder  children,  came  to  the 
United  States  in  the  spring  of  1896,  and,  after  having  made 
arrangements  for  their  care  and  education,  returned  to  India 
with  a  child  who  had  been  born  in  Virginia,  in  October,  1897. 

To  take  the  places  of  Pohl  and  Baehnisch  the  Board  called 
Mueller  and  Holler,  neither  of  whom,  however,  remained  in 
the  Mission  long  enough  to  render  any  lasting  service. 

Rev.  Edward  Hans  Mueller  was  born  at  Augsburg,  Bavaria, 
Germany,  and  received  his  preparatory  training  in  Germany. 
He  was  called  by  the  Board  while  still  a  student  at  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  in  Philadelphia,  in  1896,  was  ordained  that 
year  at  the  meeting  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  in  St. 
John's  Church,  Allentown,  Pa.,  was  commissioned  June  3, 
1896,  in  St.  Michael's  Church  of  the  same  city,  and  sailed 
directly  afterward  for  Germany,  where  during  the  summer 
he  took  a  short  course  in  medicine  at  Strassburg,  and  mar- 
ried. He  reached  Rajahmundry  early  in  October,  1896,  lived 
and  studied  Telugu  at  Samulkot  and  then  at  Tadepalli- 


318       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

gudem,  and  after  having  passed  his  final  examination  in 
Telugu  at  the  end  of  his  second  year,  he  assumed  independ- 
ent charge  of  the  Tadepalligudem  district,  and  continued  to 
look  after  its  interests  until  his  resignation  in  1899. 

Rev.  Peter  Holler,  pastor  of  a  congregation  at  Schuyler, 
Neb.,  was  called  by  the  Board  at  its  meeting  on  August  30, 
1897.  He  was  commissioned  on  October  5th,  in  St.  Michael's 
Church,  Germantown,  Pa.,  sailed  the  next  day,  and  arrived  at 
Rajahmundry  on  December  21,  1897.  He  was  the  first  mis- 
sionary to  take  his  Telugu  examination  before  a  committee 
of  the  South  India  Missionary  Association.  After  the  return  of 
Kuder  to  the  United  States  in  1898,  he  was  associated  with  Dr. 
Schmidt  in  the  care  of  the  Boys'  Boarding  School.  He  resigned 
on  June  14,  1901,  and  his  relation  to  the  Board  terminated  a 
month  and  a  half  later. 

Miss  Kate  L.  Sadtler  returned  to  the  Mission  in  1896,  and 
reaching  Rajahmundry  on  November  i2th,  she  resumed 
charge  of  the  Hindu  Girls'  School  in  the  Riverdale  compound 
and  assisted  in  the  zenana  work,  until  she  finally  left  the 
field  March  15,  1902,  to  come  to  the  United  States  and  care 
for  her  mother  in  her  declining  years.  Just  before  leaving 
Rajahmundry  she  furnished  the  following  review  of  her  work 
as  a  foreign  missionary:  "The  Caste  Girls'  School  was  started 
by  Mrs.  Schmidt  in  1882  with  four  scholars.  ...  I  was  given 
charge  of  the  school  in  July,  1891.  Many  girls  have  entered 
and  left  in  the  twenty  years  since  it  was  opened.  There  have 
been  even  more  changes  than  there  would  be  at  home,  for 
in  India  girls  are  not,  as  a  rule,  allowed  to  remain  in  school 
after  they  are  considered  grown,  that  is,  after  twelve  years  of 
age.  ...  In  October,  1893,  I  opened  a  Sunday  school  for 
the  girls,  which,  except  during  my  absence  in  America  from 
1895  to  1896,  has  continued  uninterruptedly.  ...  I  have 
formed  a  number  of  classes  in  the  homes  of  former  pupils  of 
the  school.  I  have  always  found  them  delighted  to  sing  the 
Christian  lyrics  learned  in  school  and  to  continue  the  Bible 
lessons.  I  find  it  very  hard  to  leave  many  of  these  former 
school  girls,  now  married  women  with  children  of  their  own, 
as  I  am  attached  to  them  and  they  to  me.  I  also  think  some 


DISSENSION    IN    THE    MISSION    (1896-99)  319 

of  them  believe  in  Christ  as  their  Saviour  but  have  not  the 
courage  to  confess  Him  before  men.  ...  It  was  eleven  years 
ago  last  December  since  I  came  to  India.  ...  I  find  that  my 
first  zenana  classes  were  formed  in  June,  1893.  I  began  with 
three  classes.  The  first  of  all  was  among  some  Sudra  girls 
who  had  been  pupils  in  the  school,  and  I  still  teach  them. 
There  have  been  changes,  but  two  of  the  young  women  are 
those  with  whom  I  started.  They  are  married  now  and  have 
children  but  still  wish  to  be  taught.  Another  class  was  com- 
posed of  four  Brahmin  women,  the  wives  of  professors  in  the 
Government  College  here.  The  husbands  asked  me  to  come 
and  teach  their  wives.  When  we  began  zenana  work,  not 
having  so  many  classes,  we  also  taught,  after  the  Bible  lesson, 
some  fancy  work.  As  the  classes  multiplied  I  could  no  longer, 
as  at  first,  give  an  afternoon  to  a  class,  and  the  fancy  work 
had  to  be  discontinued.  I  have  now  twenty-four  classes  to 
attend  to  in  five  afternoons,  and  either  teaching  Bible  lessons 
or  singing  Telugu  hymns  from  2  o'clock  to  half  past  five  is  very 
tiresome,  but  when  the  women  are  interested  one  forgets  the 
fatigue.  Since  Miss  Swenson  left  for  America,  now  two  years 
ago  this  month,  I  have  had  the  oversight  of  all  the  zenana  work. 
Ruth,  Pastor  Joseph's  widow,  is  employed  as  a  Bible-woman. 
Miss  Dagmar  Schmidt  very  kindly  came  to  my  assistance  and 
took  a  number  of  Miss  Swenson's  classes,  to  which  she  has 
added  many  new  ones.  She  does  the  teaching  in  the  zenanas 
gratuitously  for  the  love  of  the  work.  I  regret  greatly  that 
circumstances  should  have  arisen  that  call  us  both  away  from 
the  work  at  the  same  time.  Owing  to  Miss  Strempfer's  long- 
continued  illness,  she  is  unable  to  take  charge  of  the  zenana 
work  at  present.  If  Miss  Schade,  who  has  agreed  to  give  the 
work  oversight  until  Miss  Strempfer  is  better,  is  successful  in 
finding  Bible- women,  the  work  may  be  continued;  otherwise, 
I  fear,  many  classes  will  have  to  be  dropped.  We  have  now 
eighty-nine  houses  in  which  290  pupils  are  taught.  I  have  six 
classes  in  Dowlaishwaram,  where  I  drive  every  Wednesday 
afternoon,  leaving  here  at  one  o'clock  and  returning  at  six. 
These,  I  fear,  will  have  to  be  dropped.  .  .  .  When  the  first 
trying  years  in  which  you  can  only  study  Telugu  and  feel 


320       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

that  you  are  not  very  useful,  are  passed,  the  work  grows 
increasingly  interesting.  It  is  with  regret  that  I  leave  India 
and  the  zenana  work,  for  I  am  greatly  attached  to  some  of 
my  women  and  girls,  but  I  am  called  home  for  reasons  which 
I  cannot  disregard.  I  have  taught  these  women  and  prayed 
for  them.  I  must  now  leave  them  in  God's  hands.  If  He  will, 
He  can  cause  the  seed  planted  and  watered  to  spring  up  and 
bear  fruit.  I  may  see  them  no  more  on  earth;  may  God  grant 
that  I  may  see  some  of  them  in  heaven!" 

Miss  Charlotte  Swenson  was  associated  with  Miss  Sadtler 
in  the  zenana  work  from  November,  1896,  until  she  left  the 
field  in  February,  1900,  on  account  of  ill  health. 

During  the  hot  season  in  May  and  June  the  missionaries 
usually  take  a  vacation  of  six  weeks  on  the  hills,  for  which 
the  Board  grants  an  allowance.1  The  most  popular  summer 
resorts  for  missionaries  are  Waltair,  Kodaikanal  on  the  Pul- 
ney  Hills,  and  Kotagiri  on  the  Nilgiri  Hills.  Miss  Swen- 
son and  Miss  Sadtler  spent  the  hot  season  of  1899  at  Kodai- 
kanal, and  Miss  Sadtler  furnished  the  following  interesting 
description  of  the  journey  to  that  resort:  "We  are  fortunate 
in  now  having  a  short  route  to  Madras,  only  twenty-four  hours 
by  rail.  From  there  we  continued  southward  from  Madras 
about  350  miles,  where  our  railroad  journey  ended.  Then 
we  rode  for  30  miles  by  bullock  bandy.2  Straw  is  put  in  the 
cart,  over  which  we  spread  our  rugs  and  lie  down.  The  jolting 
makes  man)'  people  sea-sick.  Starting  at  4.30  p.  M.,  we  reached 
the  foot  of  the  Ghats  at  2.30  A.  M.  There  at  a  dak-bungalow 
we  had  lunch,  previously  ordered,  and  after  putting  on 
heavier  clothing  we  started  at  4.30  A.  M.  by  starlight  to  ascend 
the  Ghats,  a  distance  of  12  miles.  The  ascent  is  made  on  a 
pony  or  by  being  carried  in  a  chair  to  which  poles  are  attached, 
the  poles  resting  on  the  shoulders  of  the  bearers.  I  chose  a 
chair  which  broke  when  I  was  half-way  up  the  mountain  and 
had  to  be  tied  together  with  ropes,  after  which  I  felt  uneasy, 
especially  on  the  steep  ascents.  However,  I  reached  our 
cottage  safely  at  10.30  A.  M.  It  is  beautifully  situated  on  the 

1  Rs.  75  for  an  adult  and  Rs.  25  for  a  child. 

*  A  "bandy"  is  a  cart  with  or  without  springs;  any  vehicle. 


DISSENSION   IN   THE    MISSION    (1896-99)  321 

brow  of  a  hill,  with  a  fine  view  of  the  valley  and  surrounding 
hills.  Sometimes  we  are  far  above  the  clouds  which  fill  the 
valley  with  a  billowy,  fleecy  effect  like  high  banks  of  snow. 
The  air  is  bracing  and  cool,  the  thermometer  ranging  from  58 
to  72  degrees  above  zero." 

Besides  the  recreation  afforded  at  the  summer  resort,  there 
are  many  conferences  and  meetings  of  missionaries,  which 
always  prove  to  be  helpful  and  inspiring.  The  weeks  spent 
at  these  resorts  are  both  a  physical  and  spiritual  refreshment  to 
the  tired  missionaries,  who  return  to  their  work  on  the  plains 
with  new  vigor  and  interest.  Several  Missions  have  pur- 
chased property  and  erected  cottages  at  Kodaikanal  and 
Kotagiri  for  their  missionaries.1 

Closely  associated  with  the  zenana  work  is  the  medical 
work  for  women  and  children,  and  the  beginning  of  such  work 
in  our  Mission  was  made  during  the  period  under  review 
in  this  chapter,  by  the  sending  out  of  Dr.  Lydia  Woerner. 

Dr.  Lydia  Woerner,  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Gottlob  Fried- 
erich  Woerner  and  Friederica,  nee  Woern,  was  born  at  Spring 
Station,  Tex.,  while  her  father  served  a  congregation  at  that 
place.  The  family  afterward  moved  to  Roxboro,  a  suburb  of 
Philadelphia.  She  studied  medicine  at  the  Woman's  Medical 
College,  Philadelphia,  for  three  years  at  the  expense  of  the 
Women's  Missionary  Society  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium, 
and  was  graduated  in  1899.  The  Board  called  her  to  go  to  India 
that  year  as  the  first  medical  missionary  of  the  General  Council, 
pledging  itself  to  establish  a  Dispensary  and  a  Hospital  in 
Rajahmundry  for  women  and  children.  Dr.  Woerner  was 
commissioned  for  her  work  on  Friday  evening,  October  13, 1899, 
in  St.  John's  English  Lutheran  Church,  Phialdelphia,  sailed 
from  New  York  four  days  later  and  arrived  at  Rajahmundry 
on  November  29th,  having  taken  the  overland  route  from 
Bombay.  She  applied  herself  to  the  study  of  Telugu,  spent 

1  In  1912  Mrs.  J.  H.  Harpster  donated  a  choice  building  site  at  Kotagiri  to 
the  Boards  of  the  General  Council  and  of  the  General  Synod,  giving  each  one- 
half  or  about  an  acre.  The  bungalows  erected  on  this  site  are  memorials  to 
Dr.  Harpster.  The  funds  for  the  bungalows  of  the  General  Council's  mis- 
sionaries were  secured  through  Mrs.  F.  A.  Kaehler's  activity  from  women's 
missionary  societies  throughout  America. 


322   THE  TELUGU  MISSION  OF  THE  GENERAL  COUNCIL 

some  time  at  Guntur,  took  Miss  Schade's  place  as  manager 
of  the  Girls'  Boarding  School  while  the  latter  was  on  furlough 
in  1901,  and  began  the  medical  mission  work  in  Rajahmundry. 
Before  taking  her  first  furlough1  Miss  Schade  was  able  to 
complete  the  erection  of  new  and  adequate  buildings  for  her 
boarding  school  for  girls,  which  in  1897  enrolled  fifty  Christian 
boarders,  twenty-three  Christian  day  pupils  and  twenty 
Hindu  day  pupils.  In  December,  1896,  a  site  of  four  acres 
was  secured  from  the  Government  through  Mr.  Brodie,  the 
Collector  of  the  District,  as  a  grant,  by  merely  paying  for  the 
trees  which  grew  on  the  lots.  Miss  Schade  contributed  from 
her  private  purse  sufficient  funds  to  build  the  main  school 
building,  and  the  Board  appropriated  Rs.  8100  ($27oo)2 
for  the  dormitory  building.  McCready  supervised  the 
building  operations.  The  corner-stone  of  the  Dormitory 
was  laid  April  22,  1898,  and  that  of  the  main  school  building 
July  i3th  of  the  same  year.  On  October  31 ,  1898,  Miss  Schade 
and  her  pupils  moved  into  the  new  dormitory.  Miss  Schade 
described  the  occupation  of  the  building  as  follows:  "All 
arrangements  having  been  previously  made,  we  started 
out  in  procession  seventy-five  strong,  each  child  taking  her 
belongings  with  her.  In  two  hours  we  were  quite  settled  and 
ready  for  the  dedication  service.  The  missionaries  present  at 
the  station  and  many  of  the  native  Christian  attended.  First 
we  assembled  on  the  west  verandah  and  the  blessing  of  God 
was  invoked  upon  the  children  who  were  to  occupy  the  rooms. 
We  next  proceeded  to  the  prayer-room  where  an  interesting 
little  service  was  held.  A  few  addresses  were  made,  and  then 
one  of  the  girls,  after  rehearsing  some  of  the  difficulties  en- 
countered during  the  time  of  building,  thanked  Rev.  Mr. 
McCready  in  behalf  of  all  the  girls  for  his  great  interest  in 
the  school  and  his  untiring  labors  in  erecting  this  building  for 
them.  We  next  went  to  the  well,  the  kitchen,  the  work- 

1  Miss  Schade  remained  in  India  ten  years  and  three  months  before  taking 
her  first  furlough  which  lasted  only  eight  months.  In  Sept.,  1896,  the  Board 
passed  a  rule  making  the  term  of  service  for  woman  missionaries  five  years. 
It  has  since  been  lengthened  to  six  years. 

. 2  Besides  the  Board's  appropriation,  Miss  Swenson  contributed  Rs.  500; 
Miss  Sadtler,  Rs.  200,  and  Rev.  Isaacson,  Rs.  20,  making  a  total  'of  Rs.  8820 
(or  $2940)  contributed  and  used  for  this  building. 


MAIN  BUILDING  OF  THE  GIRLS'  CENTRAL  SCHOOL  AT  RAJAHMUNDRY 


DORMITORIES   OF   THE   GIRLS'    CENTRAL    SCHOOL,    RAJAHMUNDRY 


A  GROUP  OF  MISSIONARIES 

E.    Pohl  Dagmar   Schmidt  H.   E.    Isaacson 

Mrs.   E.   Pohl          Mrs.   H.   C.   Schmidt          H.   C.   Schmidt          Mrs.    H.   E.   Isaacson 
Sister    Pohl  Kate    L.    Sadtler 


THE   \VELL    IX   THE   COMPOUND   OF  THE   GIRLS'   CENTRAL   SCHOOL, 
RAJAHMUNDRY 


DISSENSION    IN    THE    MISSION    (1896-99)  323 

room  and  the  sick-room,  and  in  every  place  appropriate 
prayers  were  offered.  Finally,  we  reached  the  rooms  of  the 
zenana  sister  in  charge,  and  there  a  very  fervent  prayer  was 
offered  for  her  who  was  to  teach  and  guide  all  those  who  for 
a  longer  or  shorter  period  of  time  would  find  their  home  within 
these  walls.  After  a  prayer  at  the  gateway  this  simple  and 
pleasing  service  was  brought  to  a  close  with  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
the  doxology  and  the  benediction." 

The  main  school  building  was  completed  and  occupied 
on  June  18, 1899.  The  estimate  for  this  building  was  Rs.  5700 
($1900),  of  which  the  government  gave  Rs.  1900  as  a  building 
grant,  so  that  it  cost  Miss  Schade  about  $1300. 

Despite  the  commendable  progress  which  was  made  in 
India  the  Board  found  itself  unable  to  finance  the  work  ade- 
quately on  account  of  a  lack  of  income.  In  September,  1896, 
it  became  necessary  to  negotiate  a  loan  of  $30x30  from  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  Theological  Seminary  in  Philadel- 
phia on  a  note  endorsed  by  the  Rev.  William  Ashmead  Schaef- 
fer  and  William  H.  Staake,  Esq.  A  special  appeal  for  larger 
contributions  was  published  in  the  church  and  missionary 
journals,  and  the  General  Council  at  Erie,  Pa.,  in  1897,  re- 
solved to  urge  the  synods  to  raise  $50,000  a  year  for 
the  next  two  years.  These  efforts,  however,  failed  utterly, 
and  the  next  two  years  actually  showed  a  decrease  of  income.1 
By  strict  economy,  however,  the  Board  was  able  to  liquidate 
its  indebtedness  in  1899.  It  was  exercised  in  two  directions, 
namely:  first,  in  a  systematic  reduction  of  the  estimates 
for  the  regular  work  of  the  Mission  and  in  stringent  orders  to 
the  missionaries  not  to  begin  any  new  work;  and,  secondly,  in 
dispensing  with  the  full  services  of  the  Missionary  Superin- 
tendent, the  Rev.  J.  Telleen,  who  voluntarily  withdrew  to  take 
charge  of  a  congregation  in  Chicago  during  the  year  1897, 
giving  only  a  part  of  his  time  and  attention  to  the  Board  on  a 
greatly  reduced  salary.  He  again  resumed  his  work  in  full 

^he  income  for  the  biennium  1897-99  was  $39,476.64,  as  compared  with 
$41 ,051.12  for  the  previous  two  years.  While  the  report  of  tie  treasurer  in  1897 
showed  receipts  of  $1333.33  from  the  proceeds  of  the  German  and  English  pub- 
lications of  the  Board  of  Publication,  no  such  receipts  are  recorded  in  the  treas- 
urer's report  of  1899.  This  to  some  extent  accounts  for  the  reduced  income. 


324      THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

on  June  i,  1898.  On  this  subject  the  Board  reported  to  the 
General  Council  in  1899,  as  follows:  "To  keep  the  subject 
before  the  people  is  the  idea  of  the  Board  as  well  as  of  the 
General  Council,  and  this  can  only  be  done  by  having  a  man 
constantly  employed,  as  Mr.  Telleen  is  at  present,  in  visiting 
synods,  conferences,  missionary  conventions,  Luther  leagues, 
congregations  and  individuals  in  the  interest  of  the  work. 
The  activity  and  intelligent  zeal  of  our  Superintendent,  who 
has  headquarters  both  at  Rock  Island  and  Chicago,  have  been 
put  to  good  service  in  the  effort  to  increase  the  interest  of  the 
Church  in  the  work  of  bringing  the  heathen  to  the  knowledge 
of  Christ  Jesus." 

A  number  of  important  changes  occurred  in  the  Board 
during  the  period  under  review  in  this  chapter.  The  Board 
sustained  a  decided  loss  in  the  death  of  its  President,  the  Rev. 
Professor  Charles  W.  Schaefler,  D.  D.,  on  May  15,  1896. 
He  had  served  as  a  member  of  the  Board  since  August,  1880, 
a  period  of  almost  sixteen  years,  and  had  been  its  President 
since  September,  1892.  The  Rev.  H.  Grahn  was  elected  his 
successor  on  May  n,  1896. 

The  Rev.  E.  H.  Pohle  was  elected  the  German  Secretary 
of  the  Board  June  12,  1896,  succeeding  Dr.  Grahn  in  that 
office,  but  he  resigned  a  year  and  a  half  later,  Mr.  Conrad 
Itter  becoming  his  successor.  Mr.  J.  Washington  Miller,  of 
Philadelphia,  an  efficient  lay  member  of  the  Board,  who  served 
since  the  beginning  of  1887,  died  in  March,  1900,  the  Board 
paying  him  a  just  tribute  for  his  service.  Quite  a  change  was 
made  in  the  membership  of  the  Board  by  the  General  Council 
at  Erie,  Pa.,  in  1897,  when  it  was  resolved  that  the  Board 
should  consist  of  eight  clergymen  and  eight  laymen.  As  a 
result  the  following  new  members  were  elected:  Messrs. 
Albert  Oettinger,  Conrad  Itter,  J.  A.  Bremer,  F.  Veit, 
George  W.  March  and  Henry  S.  Cassel,  taking  the  places 
of  the  Revs.  E.  Niedecker,  J.  F.  C.  Fluck,  S.  A.  Ziegenfuss, 
J.  J.  Heischmann,  and  C.  W.  Schaeffer,  D.  D.,  deceased. 
Those  who  remained  in  the  Board  were  the  Revs.  Carl  A. 
Blomgren,  E.  H.  Pohle,  E.  R.  Cassaday,  F.  W.  Weiskotten, 
W.  A.  Schaeffer,  J.  L.  Sibole,  E.  E.  Sibole,  H.  Grahn,  and 


DISSENSION    IN    THE   MISSION    (1896-99)  325 

Messrs.  J.  W.  Miller  and  W.  H.  Staake.  Mr.  L.  Heist  was 
elected  by  the  Board  in  the  stead  of  Mr.  Cassel,  who  declined 
to  serve.  In  1899  the  General  Council  elected  Mr.  Chas.  A. 
Smith  in  the  place  of  Mr.  F.  Veit  and  the  Rev.  L.  G.  Abraham- 
son,  D.  D.,  in  the  place  of  the  Rev.  August  Fischer,  who  had 
filled  the  unexpired  term  of  the  Rev.  E.  H.  Pohle.  To  fill 
the  vacancy  created  by  the  death  of  Mr.  J.  W.  Miller,  Mr. 
Chas.  B.  Opp  was  elected  by  the  Board,  and  when  the  Rev. 
J.  L.  Sibole  resigned  in  September,  1900,  the  Rev.  S.  A. 
Ziegenfuss  was  restored  to  membership  in  the  Board. 

Pastor  N.  Paulus  died  May  25,  1897,  and  less  than  two 
years  later,  on  Palm  Sunday,  March  26,  1899,  Pastor  T. 
Joseph  also  fell  asleep  in  Jesus. 

Concerning  Pastor  Paulus  Dr.  Schmidt  wrote:  "He  was  a 
remarkable  man  and  one  of  the  most  influential  native  pastors 
in  these  parts  of  India.  He  dated  from  olden  times  when 
education  was  at  a  low  ebb  in  India,  especially  among  his 
class  of  people.  He  could  not  write  English  well  enough  to 
compose  glorious  reports,  else  the  missionary  journals  would 
have  printed  them  and  not  forgotten  to  record  that  this  native 
pastor  in  little  more  than  eighteen  years  baptized  close  to 
five  thousand  persons,  not  to  speak  of  other  ministerial  acts. 
.  .  .  He  was  a  good  speaker,  had  a  powerful  voice,  and  his 
language  was  plain  and  easily  understood,  even  by  the  most 
ignorant.  The  secret  of  his  success  was  his  love  for  the  people, 
even  the  poorest.  He  worked  with  great  self-denial  and  to  his 
end  never  grew  tired  of  seeking  the  lost.  He  would  go  to  the 
Mala  quarters  and  preach  to  them,  and  when  they  were 
friendly  he  would  go  into  one  of  their  houses,  put  up  with 
them  for  the  night,  sit  on  their  cot  and  tell  them  of  God's 
wonderful  plan  of  salvation.  That  was  his  mode  of  working 
even  after  his  ordination  and  to  his  very  end.  Pastor  Paulus 
never  was  discouraged  in  his  work  and  often  said,  'It  is  only 
a  question  of  time.  They  will  all  come.  We  must  only  wait  a 
little.'  For  eight  years  he  worked  under  me  as  a  catechist, 
and  when  he  was  ordained  at  Christmas,  1878,  he  took  charge 
of  a  large  part  of  my  field,  where  I  considered  him  as  the 
pastor  loci.  Although  it  remained  part  of  my  work  and  I 


326       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

came  twice  a  year  to  visit  the  Christian  villages,  examine  the 
schools  and  congregations,  still  I  never  performed  ministerial 
acts  or  interfered  with  his  work,  except  as  supervisor.  He 
always  consulted  me  on  important  matters,  and  he  never  did 
anything  without  my  consent.  He  managed  the  work  remark- 
ably well  and  showed  as  much  sound  judgment  as  if  he  had 
grown  up  in  congregational  work  at  home.  He  paid  all  the 
teachers  and  preachers,  between  fifty  and  sixty  of  them,  and 
looked  after  buildings  and  repairs.  I  always  found  that  he 
got  more  help  and  labor  out  of  the  Christians  than  a  mis- 
sionary could  have  done.  But  he  was  principally  an  evan- 
gelist and  understood  how  to  bring  the  people  into  the 
Church." 

Pastor  T.  Joseph's  health  for  some  time  before  his  death 
was  such  as  to  interfere  with  his  activity.  For  years  he  was 
almost  blind.  Still  his  ministry  was  abundantly  blessed  up 
to  the  last,  and  he  preached  the  Sunday  before  his  death. 
After  his  death  Dr.  Schmidt  wrote:  "Oh,  that  we  had  more 
such  native  pastors!  When  we  see  so  many  missionaries 
leave  on  account  of  ill  health  and  for  other  reasons,  we 
cannot  but  pray  that  the  vacancies  caused  by  the  deaths 
of  these  native  ministers  may  be  filled  soon,  and  that  we 
may  get  even  more  of  them  to  look  after  the  growing  con- 
gregations." 

For  the  better  administration  of  the  Mission  a  revised  set 
of  Rules  and  Regulations,  which  had  been  worked  out  by  the 
Board  while  Dr.  Schmidt  was  on  furlough  in  the  United  States, 
was  adopted  and  published  in  1895.  Under  these  Rules  the 
Mission  Council  in  India,  composed  of  all  missionaries,  women 
as  well  as  men,  who  had  been  placed  "in  charge  of  mission 
work,"  constituted  the  governing  body,  "the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  Board  on  the  mission  field."  Through  official 
correspondence  between  this  Council  and  the  Board  the 
mission  work  was  to  be  regulated;  but  unfortunately  several 
of  the  missionaries  wrote  private  letters  to  certain  members 
of  the  Board,  and  these  letters  were  sometimes  read  to  the 
Board  and  made  the  basis  of  its  action.  The  inevitable  result 
was  dissension  among  the  missionaries,  which  came  to  a  head 


DISSENSION   IN    THE    MISSION    (1896-99)  327 

in  connection  with  the  ordination  of  J.  William  Garu;1  but  it 
is  due  Mr.  William  to  state  that  he  was  the  innocent  cause 
of  the  trouble.  It  was  not  his  fitness  for  the  holy  office,  but 
the  manner  in  which  his  ordination  was  effected,  that  was  in 
question. 

After  the  death  of  Pastor  Paulus  the  need  of  ordaining 
some  one  to  take  his  place  in  the  Bhimawaram  district 
was  strongly  urged  by  Dr.  Schmidt.  The  first  native  worker 
suggested  for  this  high  honor  was  P.  V.  Ratnam,  who,  how- 
ever, just  at  this  time  withdrew  from  the  Mission  and  went 
over  to  the  Church  Missionary  Society.2 

At  a  meeting  of  the  ordained  missionaries  held  at  Dr. 
Schmidt's  residence,  "Riverdale,"  in  October,  1897,  it  was 
moved  to  license  J.  William  to  perform  marriages  rather  than 
to  ordain  him  at  once.  Three  of  the  missionaries  voted  for 
this  motion  and  three  against  it.  In  due  form  and  order  this 
meeting  and  its  action  was  reported  to  the  Board ;  but  in  pri- 
vate letters  two  of  the  missionaries  urged  the  immediate  ordi- 
nation of  J.  William.  The  Board  decided  to  have  him  ordained 
and,  after  having  obtained  the  authorization  of  the  President 
of  the  Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania,  directed  the  officers  of 
the  Mission  Council  in  India  to  perform  the  act  of  ordination. 
This  action  of  the  Board  was  taken  on  January  24,  1898.  The 
officers  of  the  Mission  Council,  Kuder  and  McCready,  joined 
by  Arps  and  Mueller,  thereupon  wrote  to  the  Board,  explain- 
ing that  the  Mission  Council,  as  such,  had  not  yet  acted  on 
the  question  of  ordination,  and  that  the  only  question  then 
before  it  was  that  of  licensing  to  perform  marriages.  However, 
when  the  Mission  Council  again  met,  in  April,  1898,  the  ques- 
tion of  the  ordination  of  J.  William  was  formally  presented 
and  debated,  and  the  final  vote  stood  two  for  the  motion  to 
recommend  for  ordination  and  three  against  it.  Schmidt,  who 
was  absent  from  this  meeting,  was  known  to  favor  the  ordina- 
tion, and  as  a  matter  of  courtesy  his  vote  was  recorded  in  the 
affirmative.  The  officers  of  the  Mission  Council  now  declared 
themselves  ready  to  ordain  J.  William,  if  the  Board  so  ordered; 

1"Garu"  signifies  Mr. 

2  Subsequently  he  returned  and  was  ordained  at  Rajahmundry. 


328       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

but  instead  of  renewing  its  former  action,  it  rescinded  it,  at 
a  meeting  held  May  23,  1898,  and  authorized  and  instructed 
Schmidt  and  Isaacson  "to  ordain  J.  William  to  the  office  of 
the  holy  ministry,  said  ordination  to  take  place  in  the  presence 
of  the  missionaries  or  at  such  time  and  place  as  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case  may  demand."  It  was  this  order  of  the 
Board  that  led  to  the  resignation  of  four  of  its  missionaries, 
Kuder,  McCready,  Mueller  and  Arps,  who  resented  the 
Board's  nullification  of  the  constituted  authority  in  the 
Mission. 

Kuder,  who  had  not  been  well  for  some  time,  left  Rajah- 
mundry  on  November  i,  1898,  and  returned  with  his  family 
to  the  United  States.  He  sought  and  obtained  an  audience 
with  the  Board  at  its  meeting  on  January  16,  1899.  The 
Board,  however,  refused  to  hear  him  concerning  the  matter 
in  question  between  the  Board  and  four  of  its  missionaries, 
whereupon  Kuder  handed  over  the  written  resignations  in  his 
charge.  Arps  meanwhile  had  written  to  the  Board,  asking  that 
his  signature  to  the  paper  presented  by  Kuder  be  erased,  and 
that  his  resignation  be  withdrawn. 

Jeriprolu  William  was  ordained,  as  ordered  by  the  Board, 
on  January  8,  1899,  by  Dr.  Schmidt  and  Rev.  Mr.  Isaacson, 
assisted  by  the  Revs.  P.  Holler  and  E.  Pohl.  He  was  forty 
years  old  when  he  was  ordained,  having  been  born  at  Guntur 
in  1859. 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Board,  on  January  30,  1899, 
the  resignation  of  Kuder  was  accepted  to  take  effect  on  Decem- 
ber ist,  that  year,  with  sick-leave  allowance  of  one-half  salary 
and  with  permission  to  deliver  addresses  in  America  in  the 
interest  of  foreign  missions  under  a  special  financial  arrange- 
ment with  the  pastors  of  congregations  inviting  him.  Mc- 
Cready's  and  Mueller's  resignations  were  also  accepted  to  take 
effect  on  April  i,  1899.  At  its  meeting  on  February  26th, 
that  year,  the  Board  resolved  to  cut  the  Gordian  knot  by  sus- 
pending the  Mission  Council  in  India,  and  the  notification  of 
its  suspension  was  cabled  to  the  Mission. 

This  most  unfortunate  state  of  affairs  was  reported  in  full 
by  the  Board  to  the  General  Council  at  Chicago,  in  1899, 


DISSENSION    IN    THE    MISSION    (1896-99)  329 

which  resolved  to  direct  the  Board  to  send  a  suitable  person 
to  India  as  a  special  agent  to  settle  the  difficulties  there. 
The  action  of  the  Board  in  accepting  the  resignations  of  three 
of  its  missionaries  was  approved,  as  was  also  the  ordination  of 
J.  William,  with  an  expression  of  regret  that  such  an  im- 
portant step  had  been  taken  "while  the  Mission  Council  in 
India  had  postponed  its  final  vote  on  the  recommendation 
of  the  candidate."1 

JThe  General  Council  adopted  the  following  resolution:  "When  native 
pastors  are  needed  for  the  pastoral  care  of  congregations,  the  ordained  mem- 
bers of  the  Mission  Council,  who  are  entitled  to  vote,  shall  examine  and  pro- 
pose the  candidate  for  ordination  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions;  and  if 
two-thirds  of  said  ordained  members  of  the  Mission  Council  agree  in  such 
recommendation,  and  if  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  by  a  two-thirds  vote, 
decide  in  favor  of  the  applicant,  the  Board  shall  authorize  the  ordained  officers 
of  the  Conference  to  ordain  the  candidate  as  a  member  of  'The  Telugu  Synod 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  India.'  No  one  shall  be  ordained 
except  for  the  direct  ministration  of  the  pastoral  office." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

RECONSTRUCTION   (1900-02) 

THE  re-election  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  at  the 
Chicago  Convention  of  the  General  Council,  in  1899^  was  an 
expression  of  willingness  on  the  part  of  the  Council  to  give 
the  Board  an  opportunity  during  the  next  two  years  to  cope 
with  the  unfortunate  conditions  in  the  Mission  and  to  demon- 
strate its  ability  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos.2 

To  reinforce  its  greatly  depleted  force  of  missionaries3 
the  Board,  in  1900,  called  two  new  men  and  two  woman  mis- 
sionaries, and  finally  yielded  to  the  repeated  requests  of  Dr. 
Edman  to  be  returned  as  a  missionary  to  India. 

The  Rev.  Gomer  B.  Matthews  was  called  by  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions  while  he  was  a  senior  in  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Philadelphia.  He  was  commissioned  and  sent 
out  in  August,  1900,  and  reached  the  field  hi  India  in  October, 
that  year.  A  few  months  after  his  arrival  his  health  failed, 
and  in  a  letter  under  date  of  May  31,  1901,  he  informed  the 
Board  that  he  would  leave  India  the  next  day.  The  Board 
terminated  its  relation  with  him  on  June  i,  1901. 

The  Rev.  Ernst  William  Neudoerffer,  the  nineteenth  foreign 
missionary  of  the  General  Council,  was  born  in  Brazil,  South 

1  Before  the  next  convention  of  the  General  Council  the  following  changes 
in  membership  took  place:  Rev.  J.  L.  Sibole  resigned  and  Rev.  S.  A.  Ziegenfuss 
was  elected  in  his  place;  Rev.  F.  W.  Weiskotten  died  and  Rev.  R.  Bielinski  was 
elected  to  fill  the  unexpired  term. 

2  It  was  during  this  period  that  the  Board  began  mission  work  in  the  island 
of  Porto  Rico.    The  original  motion  to  make  this  beginning  was  made  by  the 
Rev.  William  Ashmead  Schaeffer,  D.  D.,  on  February  16,  1899;  and  the  first 
missionaries,  the  Rev.  H.  F.  Richards  and  B.  F.  Hankey,  sailed  from  New  York 
for  Porto  Rico  on  October  23d,  that  year.     Inasmuch  as  this  book  deals  only 
with  the  history  of  the  mission  work  in  India,  and  inasmuch  as  the  General  Coun- 
cil, in  1 901,  created  a  separate  Board  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  Porto  Rico 
Mission,  we  omit  every  reference  to  that  Mission  in  these  pages. 

3 Only  the  following  missionaries  remained  in  India:  Dr.  Schmidt,  Isaacson, 
Arps,  Holler,  Miss  Schade  and  Miss  Sadtler. 

330 


ERNST   NEUDOERFFER 


OSCAR   L.    LARSON 


KARL  L.  WOLTERS 


OLAUS  O.   ECKARDT 


FREDERICK   W.   WACKERNAGEL 


AUGUST   F.    A.   NEUDOERFFER 


MISSIONARIES    IN    INDIA 


AGATHA    TATGE 


MARY  S.  BORTHWICK 


SlGRID    EsBERHN 


MRS.    OSCAR   V.    WERNER 


MRS.    ERNST    NEUDOERFFER 


EMILY  L.   WEISKOTTEN 


HEDGWIG  WAHLBERG  MRS.  JOHN  H.   HARPSTER 

WOMEN    MISSIONARIES 


RECONSTRUCTION    (1900-02)  331 

America,  while  his  father  was  a  missionary  in  that  country. 
The  date  of  his  birth  is  November  5,  1877.  His  father  is  now 
the  pastor  of  congregations  in  and  around  Neustadt,  Ontario, 
Canada,  where  he  has  served  for  many  years.  His  mother's 
maiden  name  was  Barbara  Spohn.  After  having  been  gradu- 
ated from  Wagner  Memorial  Lutheran  College,  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  he  entered  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Philadelphia 
in  1897,  and  was  graduated  in  1900.  While  still  a  student  in 
the  senior  class  he  received  and  accepted  the  call  to  go  to 
India.  He  was  ordained  on  June  17,  1900,  in  his  father's 
church  at  Neustadt,  Ontario,  at  a  convention  of  the  Canada 
Synod.  He  received  his  commission,  together  with  Miss  Emily 
L.  Weiskotten  and  Miss  Martha  Strempfer,  at  a  service  held 
hi  St.  James'  German  Lutheran  Church,  Philadelphia,  Sep- 
tember 2,  1900,  and  formed  one  of  the  missionary  party  which 
sailed  two  days  later  from  New  York  City  on  the  steamship 
"Deutschland." 

When  Miss  Charlotte  Swenson,  on  account  of  ill  health, 
left  Rajahmundry  in  April,  1900,  the  zenana  work  which  she 
had  developed  was  left  in  charge  of  Miss  Kate  Sadtler,  whom 
Miss  Dagmar  Schmidt  voluntarily  assisted.  Miss  Agnes  I. 
Schade's  furlough  was  overdue.  The  situation,  therefore, 
looked  quite  as  ominous  for  the  women's  work  as  for  the  dis- 
trict evangelistic  work.  The  Board  at  this  crisis  published  an 
appeal  for  additional  woman  missionaries,  and  almost  imme- 
diately Miss  Emily  Weiskotten  and  Miss  Martha  Strempfer 
volunteered  to  go  to  India  as  missionaries.  Both  were  called 
on  July  30,  1900,  and  were  commissioned,  as  already  noted, 
on  September  2d,  that  year.  This  commissioning  service  was 
unique  and  interesting  from  more  than  one  point  of  view.  All 
of  the  new  missionaries  were  children  of  Lutheran  pastors :  the 
Rev.  E.  Neudoerffer,  a  son  of  the  Rev.  E.  Neudoerffer,  Sr.,  of 
Canada;  Miss  Martha  Strempfer,  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  J. 
Strempfer,  then  of  Toledo,  O.,  and  Miss  Emily  L.  Weis- 
kotten, a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Frederick  W.  Weiskotten  of 
Philadelphia.  Moreover,  at  the  same  service  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Weiskotten,  the  pastor  of  the  congregation,  was  publicly  com- 
missioned and  sent  out  by  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  of 


332   THE  TELUGU  MISSION  OF  THE  GENERAL  COUNCIL 

which  he  was  a  leading  member,1  to  "investigate  the  work  of 
the  missionaries  and  carry  out  the  order  of  the  resolution 
adopted  by  the  General  Council." 

The  following  letter  of  instruction  was  given  to  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Weiskotten: 

"The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  General  Council 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  North  America  has 
appointed  the  Rev.  F.  W.  Weiskotten  to  visit  our  mission 
field  in  India,  in  order  to  gain  a  clear  insight  into  its  condi- 
tions, workings  and  necessities,  and  to  devise,  in  conjunction 
with  our  missionaries,  plans  and  means  by  which  pending 
questions  may  be  settled,  difficulties  removed,  and,  by  a 
harmonious  working  together,  the  prosperity  of  the  field 
under  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  may  be  enhanced. 

"As  the  representative  of  the  Board  Rev.  Weiskotten  is 
authorized  to  confer  with  our  missionaries  and  co-workers, 
severally  and  in  meetings  called  by  him.  He  may  decide 
questions  before  them,  give  instructions  and  settle  disputed 
points. 

"He  is  to  examine  into  the  financial  system  and  into  docu- 
ments and  books  belonging  thereto,  and  also  into  the  accounts 
of  any  member  of  the  Mission  who  keeps  such  accounts. 

"He  is  to  examine  the  school  system  of  the  Mission  as  to 
appointments  of  teachers,  plans  of  instruction,  location  of 
buildings,  etc.,  and  is  empowered  to  make  changes,  if  consid- 
ered desirable  by  him;  the  same  with  reference  to  the  indus- 
trial interests  of  the  Mission. 

"He  is  to  visit  the  different  stations  of  our  field  and  ac- 
quaint himself,  as  far  as  possible,  with  their  conditions  and 
wants. 

"He  will  also  give  our  brethren  opportunity  to  make  sug- 
gestions as  to  improvements  in  our  Rules  and  Regulations. 

"Finally,  we  commit  to  his  discretionary  action  whatever 
seems  to  be  necessary  without  being  specified  in  the  foregoing, 
whilst  the  Board  has  the  assurance  that  our  brother  under- 
takes such  an  important  and  responsible  task  with  an  eye 

1  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  Board  since  October,  1881,  and  editor  of  the 
"  Missionsbote  "  since  December,  1889. 


RECONSTRUCTION    (1900-02)  333 

single  to  the  blessed  cause  of  Christ  and  the  saving  of  souls, 
and  with  a  loving  heart  to  the  brethren  in  particular. 

"We  trust  they  will  honor  in  him  the  authority  of  the 
Board,  receive  him  with  confidence  and  brotherly  affection 
and  work  with  him  in  Christian  harmony,  so  that  all  they  do 
may  redound  to  the  glory  of  God  and  to  a  lasting  blessing 
to  the  Mission. 

By  Order  of  the  Board, 
H.  Grahn,  President, 

A.  Oettinger,  English  Secretary. 
Philadelphia,  August  30,  1900. 

Inspector  Weiskotten  and  his  party  of  missionaries  started 
from  New  York  on  September  4,  1900.  They  were  enthu- 
siastically welcomed  at  Rajahmundry  on  October  2oth. 
Dr.  Edman,  who  had  joined  the  party,  at  once  took  charge  of 
the  Tallapudi  district,  and  the  four  new  missionaries  began 
the  study  of  Telugu.  The  Inspector  spent  thirty-six  days  in 
the  Mission  and,  among  other  things,  ordained  C.  James 
to  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry,  the  ordained  missionaries 
assisting  in  the  service.  Having  finished  his  work  of  inspec- 
tion, he  left  India  about  December  ist,  and  started  on  his 
homeward  way;  but  soon  after  leaving  Marseilles,  France,  a 
port  at  which  the  ship  called,  he  died  at  sea  on  December  i5th, 
and  his  body  was  committed  to  the  waters  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. "At  home  were  loving  hearts  awaiting  his  return  and 
an  anxious  Board  expecting  great  results  from  the  journey  on 
which  it  had  sent  him.  Imagine,  then,  the  shock  they  all  sus- 
tained when  on  the  last  day  of  December,  1900,  the  news 
reached  them  that,  two  weeks  before,  he  had  departed  this 
life  and  his  body  had  been  consigned  to  a  watery  grave. 
The  expectations  of  the  Board  were  all  dashed  to  the  ground." 
"The  time  of  his  sojourn- hi  India  was  too  short,"  the  Board 
acknowledged  in  its  report  to  the  General  Council,  "and  the 
work  in  hand  too  vast  for  him  to  engage  in  any  lengthy  corre- 
spondence, and  consequently  his  letters  to  the  Board  were  few 
and  brief,  fully  expecting,  as  we  all  understood,  to  give,  on 
his  return,  a  full  and  detailed  account  of  all  he  had  seen  and 


334       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

done.  One  thing,  nevertheless,  he  did.  ...  In  consultation 
with  the  missionaries  he  prepared  a  revised  form  of  the  Rules 
and  Regulations.  .  .  .  Apart  from  these,  little  was  found  that 
could  assist  the  Board  in  its  work  or  relieve  the  situation  on 
the  field."1 

In  connection  with  the  visit  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Weiskotten 
to  the  Mission  the  Board  learned  of  the  desirability  of  having 
the  titles  of  all  the  properties  of  the  Mission  held  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  General  Council  for  the  Board,  which  was 
as  yet  an  unincorporated  body,  instead  of  by  the  individual 
missionaries,  as  had  been  customary;  and  the  Rev.  H.  E. 
Isaacson,  on  July  12,  1901,  was  duly  appointed  the  attorney 
in  India  to  take  charge  of  the  matter  of  obtaining  the  legal 
transfer  of  titles.  A  list  of  properties  in  the  Mission  thus 
transferred  appeared  in  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  to  the  General  Council  in  1901.  Considerable 
difficulty,  however,  was  encountered  in  the  transfer  of  the 
titles  of  some  of  the  property  held  by  Dr.  Schmidt,  and 
years  elapsed  before  this  matter,  which  developed  into 
an  unpleasant  controversy,  was  finally  and  satisfactorily 
settled. 

Arps  left  Dowlaishwaram  on  furlough  in  March,  and  Miss 
Schade  left  Rajahmundry  on  furlough  in  May,  1901.  Both 
appeared  before  the  Board  and  reported  concerning  their  re- 
spective departments  of  work  and  the  Mission  as  a  whole; 
and  both  were  directed  to  attend  the  convention  of  the 
General  Council  at  Lima,  O.,  at  which  a  thorough  investiga- 
tion of  the  affairs  of  the  Mission  was  anticipated. 

The  main  topic  of  discussion  at  the  Lima  Convention  of  the 
General  Council  was  the  difficulties  in  which  the  India  Mission 
was  involved  and  which  had  aroused  a  great  deal  of  dissatis- 
faction with  the  administration  of  affairs  both  in  the  Mission 
and  in  the  Board.  The  report  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
After  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Weiskotten  an  "  F.  W.  Weiskotten  Memorial 
Fund  "  was  suggested  by  his  family  and  congregation,  and,  in  1005,  contributions 
for  such  a  fund  began  to  flow  into  the  treasury  of  the  Board.  Up  to  the  present 
time  (1914)  two  thousand  dollars  have  been  raised  and  invested;  but  the  fund 
is  intended  to  reach  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  the  interest  of  which  is  to 
be  devoted  to  the  education  of  native  workers. 


RECONSTRUCTION    (1900-02)  335 

sions  was  referred  to  a  special  committee1  which  was  author- 
ized to  go  over  the  whole  matter,  hear  the  missionaries  on  fur- 
lough and  any  complaints  or  representations  that  any  member 
of  the  General  Council  might  desire  to  make,  and  propose  a 
plan  of  action  which  would  unravel  the  tangled  skein  of 
mission  difficulties. 

After  reviewing  the  peculiar  difficulties  of  the  Mission  the 
committee  submitted  the  following  recommendations  which 
the  General  Council  adopted: 

"Even  though  it  should  involve  increased  expense  the  Board 
is  advised  to  seek  the  services  of  a  man  of  experience  and 
standing  in  the  Church,  who  would  be  willing  and  able  to 
labor  in  our  Mission  for  a  term  of  years.  He  should  be  a  man 
of  such  wisdom  and  tact  that,  although  not  put  over  his  fel- 
low-workers, his  example  would  soothe  the  present  irritation 
and  his  experience  would  inform  the  Board  and  the  Church. 

"It  is  imperative  that  more  missionaries  be  sent  into  the 
field  and  that  they  should  be  men  and  women  from  our 
own  churches  and  speaking  our  own  tongue. 

"The.  Board  is  directed  to  recall  the  Senior  missionary, 
Rev.  H.  C.  Schmidt,  D.  D. 

"We  advise  that  in  the  election  of  the  new  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  one-half  of  those  nominated  and  elected  shall  be  new 
men. 

"The  committee  has  noted  with  satisfaction  and  thanks- 
giving that  the  contributions  to  Foreign  Missions  during 
the  past  two  years  have  reached  the  amount  of  $50,000. 
The  care  of  a  distant  Mission,  the  direction  and  maintenance 
of  125  workers,  the  supervision  of  various  stations,  have 
occupied  the  diligence  of  the  Board;  and  when  to  this  is 
added  the  discouragements  to  which  reference  has  been 
made,  the  Board  deserves  our  sympathy.  The  work  of 
Foreign  Missions  should  engage  our  sincere  interest.  We 

1  The  committee  consisted  of  the  Rev.  Edward  T.  Horn,  D.  D.,  chairman;  the 
Revs.  J.  A.  W.  Haas,  D.  D.,  G.  W.  Mechling,  D.  D.,  C.  A.  Evald,  D.  D.,  E.  Bel- 
four,  D.  D.,  M.  L.  Wagner,  Prof.  C.  W.  Foss,  Ph.D.,  J.  Boyd  Duff,  Esq.,  Messrs. 
Wm.  Hengerer,  James  M.  Snyder,  I.  G.  Romig,  L.  W.  Kaufmann.  Another 
committee,  to  which  that  part  of  the  report  which  related  to  the  Porto  Rico 
work  was  referred,  recommended  a  separate  Board  for  that  work,  and  its  recom- 
mendation was  adopted  by  the  Council. 


336       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

hope  for  God's  blessing  upon  our  Mission  in  India.  We, 
therefore,  commend  it  to  the  prayerful  co-operation  of  our 
churches." 

It  may  be  noted  that  the  number  of  Christians  in  the 
Mission  had  risen  to  6159  at  the  close  of  the  year  1900,  and 
that  there  had  been  no  less  than  1157  baptisms  during  the 
years  1899  and  1900.  The  number  of  out-stations  was  210, 
and,  in  120  of  these,  schools  were  being  conducted,  attended 
by  3500  children.  The  blessing  of  God  was,  therefore,  evi- 
dent, despite  the  chaotic  condition  of  the  administration  in 
India  and  the  disagreements  between  the  Board  and  some 
of  its  missionaries. 

The  new  members  of  the  Board  elected  by  the  General 
Council  for  four  years  were:  the  Revs.  Edward  T.  Horn, 
D.  D.,  and  C.  E.  Slaett  and  Messrs.  Samuel  C.  Seiple,  M.  D., 
James  M.  Snyder  and  James  Dangler: — For  two  years:  the 
Revs.  Prof.  Henry  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  and  J.  J.  Heischmann, 
D.  D.,  and  Philip  S.  Zieber,  Esq.  Those  re-elected  for  four 
years  were:  the  Revs.  Edward  E.  Sibole,  D.  D.,  and  R.  C.  G. 
Bielinski,  and  William  H.  Staake,  Esq.: — For  two  years:  the 
Revs.  William  A.  Schaeffer,  D.  D.,  Carl  A.  Blomgren,  Ph.D., 
and  Ernest  R.  Cassaday,  and  Messrs.  Conrad  Itter  and 
Albert  Oettinger.  These  met  on  October  31,  1901,  and  re- 
organized by  electing  the  following  officers:  the  Rev.  Prof, 
Henry  E.Jacobs,  D.  D.,  President;  the  Rev.  Wm.  A.  Schaef- 
fer, D.  D.,  Coriesponding  Secretary;  Mr.  Albert  Oettinger, 
English  Recording  Secretary;  Mr.  Conrad  Itter,  German 
Recording  Secretary.  Mr.  Oettinger  resigned  in  June,  1902, 
and  Mr.  James  M.  Snyder  succeeded  him  as  English  Record- 
ing Secretary.  Mr.  Staake  who  by  virtue  of  his  office  as 
treasurer  of  the  General  Council  had  served  as  treasurer  of 
the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  for  a  period  of  twenty-five 
years,  resigned  both  as  treasurer  and  member  of  the  Board, 
Mr.  Philip  S.  Zieber  succeeding  him  as  treasurer  and  Mr. 
William  F.  Monroe  as  member  of  the  Board.  Dr.  Grahn, 
the  retiring  President,  was  made  business  manager  of  the 
"Missionsbote,"  and  the  Rev.  E.  R.  Cassaday  was  continued 
as  business  manager  of  "The  Foreign  Missionary."  The 


RECONSTRUCTION    (1900-02)  337 

Rev.  R.  Bielinski  who  had  succeeded  the  Rev.  F.  W.  Weis- 
kotten  as  editor  of  the  "Missionsbote,"  was  re-elected  to  that 
position,  and  the  Rev.  E.  E.  Sibole,  D.  D.,  who  had  been  the 
editor  of  "The  Foreign  Missionary"  since  1893,  was  continued 
in  that  office. 

The  Board,  thus  reorganized,  set  itself  resolutely  to  solve 
the  problem  of  reconstruction.  It  began  by  notifying  the 
Senior  Missionary,  the  Rev.  H.  C.  Schmidt,  D.  D.,  of  the 
action  of  the  General  Council  recalling  him.  It  appointed 
the  Rev.  H.  E.  Isaacson  Treasurer  in  India  in  the  stead  of  Dr. 
Schmidt,  and  the  Rev.  E.  Neudoerffer  temporary  manager  in 
charge  of  the  Boys'  Boarding  School.1  All  books,  papers, 
accounts,  moneys  and  properties  were  ordered  to  be  trans- 
ferred to  Mr.  Isaacson  by  August  i,  1902,  in  order  that  Dr. 
Schmidt  might  leave  India  as  soon  as  possible  after  that  date. 
Nine  hundred  dollars  were  sent  to  defray  the  travelling  ex- 
penses of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Schmidt  and  their  daughter  Dagmar 
to  the  United  States. 

While  the  Board  interpreted  the  recall  of  Dr.  Schmidt  as  a 
summons  to  withdraw  from  the  field  and  return  to  America 
for  the  further  consideration  of  his  case,  Dr.  Schmidt  inter- 
preted it  as  a  dismissal,  arbitrarily  and  unjustly  ordered  by  the 
General  Council,  without  any  formal  charges  brought  against 
him  and  without  giving  him  the  least  opportunity  to  state  his 
side  of  the  case.  He  demanded  a  trial  in  India  before  an  im- 
partial tribunal;  but  the  Board  replied  that  the  only  course 
it  could  pursue  was  to  insist  upon  his  leaving  the  field  and  com- 
ing to  America,  assuring  him  that  every  opportunity  would  be 
given  him  here  to  present  his  side  of  the  case.  He  declined, 
however,  to  come  to  the  United  States. 

After  the  return  of  Miss  Schade  from  furlough  Dr.  Woerner 
gave  all  her  time  and  attention  to  the  beginning  of  the  medical 
work.  A  Dispensary  was  opened  on  March  26,  1902,  in 
Bazaar  Street,  Rajahmundry,  in  a  rented  house.  The  sign- 
board over  the  door  of  this  house  read:  "A.  E.  L.  Mission 
Dispensary  for  Women  and  Children.  Open  daily  from 
8  to  10  A.  M."  The  attendance  from  the  opening  day  to  the 

1  The  name  Seminary  had  been  dropped  as  a  misnomer. 


338       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

first  of  July,  that  year,  was  1914;  and  during  that  period 
Dr.  Woerner  made  138  house  visits. 

On  February  20,  1902,  a  part  of  Halkett's  Garden,  on  the 
road  from  Rajahmundry  to  Dowlaishwaram,  containing  eight 
acres,  surrounded  by  a  substantial  stone  wall  and  including  a 
bungalow,  was  purchased  as  the  site  of  the  proposed  hospital, 
the  Board  having  previously  cabled  its  acceptance  of  the  terms 
of  purchase.  The  price  paid  for  this  site  was  Rs.  13,000,  or 
$4500,  which,  with  the  exception  of  less  than  $500,  was  de- 
frayed by  contributions  of  $2000  each,  from  the  Women's 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  and  the 
Women's  Missionary  Society  of  the  Swedish  Augustana 
Synod.  These  two  societies  and  that  of  the  New  York  and 
New  England  Synod  began  at  this  time  to  contribute  $125 
each,  annually,  toward  the  equipment  and  expenses  of  the 
medical  work.  The  bungalow  on  the  premises  was  fitted  up 
as  a  residence  for  the  medical  missionary  and  was  called 
"The  Medical  Home." 

On  Sunday,  March  2,  1902,  P.  V.  Ratnam  was  ordained 
in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Rajahmundry,  by  the  order  of  the 
Board.  The  Rev.  Ernst  Neudoerffer  conducted  the  Telugu 
service.  The  Rev.  E.  Edman,  M.  D.,  preached  the  sermon 
and  performed  the  act  of  ordination. 

As  soon  as  Neudoerffer  took  charge  of  the  Boys'  Boarding 
School  in  Rajahmundry,  he  aimed  to  raise  its  standard  to  that 
of  a  High  School  and  succeeded  in  doing  so  on  April  i,  1902. 
The  school  was  recognized  by  the  educational  department 
of  the  government  as  a  High  School  in  September,  that  year. 
When  Neudoerffer,  by  order  of  the  Board,  handed  over  the 
school  to  his  successor,  Fichthorn,  there  were  120  pupils  en- 
rolled in  the  High  School  department,  and  194  in  the  Primary 
and  Lower  Secondary  departments.1 

While  negotiations  with  Dr.  Schmidt  were  pending,  the 
Board  secured  the  services  of  a  tried  and  experienced 
missionary  to  direct  the  work  of  reconstruction  at  Rajah- 
mundry. 

1  The  Lower  Secondary  Department  corresponds  approximately  to  the 
Grammar  School  in  the  United  States. 


RECONSTRUCTION    (1900-02)  339 

The  Rev.  J.  H.  Harpster,  D.  D.,  brother-in-law  of  the 
Rev.  Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  a  foreign  missionary  of  the 
General  Synod,  who  had  served  in  its  Mission  in  India  from 
1872  to  1876,  and  again  from  1893  to  1901,  happened  to  be 
in  the  United  States  on  furlough,  and  the  attention  of  the 
Board  was  called  to  him  as  a  most  suitable  man  to  entrust 
with  the  reorganization  of  the  General  Council's  Mission. 
"It  was  not,  however,  an  easy  matter  to  secure  his  consent 
and  that  of  the  Board  he  was  serving,  as  it  interfered  with 
plans  that  had  been  formed,  called  for  many  sacrifices  on  his 
part,  and  offered  a  most  uninviting  prospect  in  a  field  so 
thoroughly  confused  and  discordant."  After  a  committee 
of  the  Board  had  made  a  presentation  of  its  extreme  need 
to  the  Board  of  the  General  Synod  in  Baltimore,  they  most 
cordially  consented  to  arrange  to  have  Dr.  Harpster  give 
his  services  to  the  Rajahmundry  Mission  for  a  period  of  not 
less  than  three  years. 

Dr.  Harpster  was  called  by  the  Board  on  March  6,  1902, 
to  be  the  "Temporary  Director"  of  the  Rajahmundry  Mis- 
sion. He  accepted  this  call  and  entered  upon  his  work  on 
April  i st.  During  the  spring  and  summer  he  visited  a  num- 
ber of  synodical  and  other  conventions,  besides  a  large  number 
of  congregations,  and  delivered  addresses  in  the  interest  of 
foreign  missions.  He  was  eminently  successful  as  a  speaker 
and  everywhere  aroused  increased  interest  in  the  cause 
of  christianizing  the  heathen.  He  met  with  the  Board  and 
aided  in  the  administrative  work  in  the  home-land.  In 
consultation  with  him,  as  well  as  with  Miss  Schade  before  her 
return  to  India  in  November,  1901, l  the  Board  went  over  the 
Revision  of  the  Rules  and  Regulations,  which  had  been  made 
in  India  daring  the  visit  of  the  Rev.  F.  W.  Weiskotten; 
and  they  were  adopted  by  the  Board  in  their  final  form  and 
printed  in  August,  with  the  understanding  that  they  were 
to  go  into  effect  on  the  arrival  of  the  "Temporary  Director" 
on  the  field.  "Whatever  temporary  authority  of  an  extra- 
ordinary character  was  committed  to  Dr.  Harpster  was  in- 

1  Miss  Schade  reached  Rajahmundry  again  on  December  18,  1901,  after  a 
furlough  of  only  seven  and  one-half  months. 


340       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

tended  only  to  prepare  the  way  for  reconstructing  the  entire 
administration  in  accordance  with  the  revised  rules."  "The 
chief  change  made  by  these  Rules  in  the  administration  in 
India  was  to  transfer  the  responsibility  for  decision  from  the 
Mission  Council  to  an  Executive  Committee,  composed  of  a 
chairman,  appointed  by  the  Board,  one  member  for  every 
seven  ordained  missionaries  or  fraction  of  that  number  in  the 
field,  elected  by  the  missionaries,  and  representatives  of  zenana 
sisters  in  the  same  proportion." 

Among  other  changes  made  by  the  new  Board  was  the 
abolition  of  the  office  of  Missionary  Superintendent  on  June  i, 
1902,  "since  its  maintenance  was  found  to  involve  the  ex- 
penditure of  about  10  per  cent,  of  the  income  of  the  treasury, 
and  its  duties  were  not  really  those  of  superintendence,  but 
almost  exclusively  those  of  collections  and  the  diffusion  of 
information  among  a  very  limited  number  of  congregations. 
In  dispensing  with  the  office  the  Board  duly  recognized  the 
zeal  and  fidelity  with  which  for  nearly  ten  years,  excepting 
two  interruptions,  the  Rev.  J.  Telleen,  D.  D.,  had  discharged 
its  duties." 

Several  new  missionaries  were  called  in  1902,  to  accompany 
Dr.  Harpster  to  India  and  assist  him  in  the  work  of  recon- 
struction. The  first  one  called  was  the  Rev.  Andrew  S.  Fich- 
thorn,  who  was  born  at  Lewistown,  Pa.,  in  1859.  He  was  a 
graduate  of  Pennsylvania  College  of  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  and  of 
the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  same  place.  He  taught  the 
classical  languages  at  Carthage  College,  111.,  for  a  short  time 
and  served  brief  pastorates  at  Lutherville,  Md.,  Cairo,  Pa., 
and  Allegheny,  Pa.  On  June  i,  1894,  he  became  pastor  of 
Trinity  Church,  Norristown,  Pa. 

The  second  one  called  was  Miss  Hedwig  Wahlberg,  a  trained 
nurse  from  Chicago,  who  was  sent  out  with  special  reference 
to  the  hospital  and  medical  work.  She  left  America  early 
in  August,  in  order  to  visit  her  home  in  Sweden  before  pro- 
ceeding to  India. 

The  third  one  called  was  Miss  Susan  E.  Monroe,  of  Mt. 
Airy,  Philadelphia,  who  offered  her  services  to  the  Board  as  a 
woman  missionary  to  labor  under  the  Rules  but  to  provide 


RECONSTRUCTION    (1900-02)  341 

for  her  own  travelling  expenses  and  support.  Her  offer  was 
most  gratefully  accepted. 

The  fourth  one  called  was  the  Rev.  F.  W.  Wackernagel,  the 
eldest  son  of  the  Rev.  Prof.  William  Wackernagel,  D.  D.  of 
Muhlenberg  College,  Allentown,  Pa.,  who  had  been  graduated 
from  that  college  and  from  the  Theological  Seminary  in 
Philadelphia,  and  for  five  years  had  served  a  congregation  at 
Millersville,  Pa.  Trinity  Church,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  pledged 
itself  to  provide  for  his  support. 

All  of  the  outgoing  missionaries,  with  the  exception  of  Miss 
Wahlberg,  were  commissioned  at  an  impressive  service  in 
St.  Mark's  English  Lutheran  Church,  Philadelphia,  on 
October  14,  1902.  "In  the  morning  there  was  a  full  service 
with  communion  and  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  A.  Spaeth, 
D.  D.  In  the  evening,  with  an  audience  crowding  the  church, 
addresses  were  made  by  the  departing  missionaries,  Revs. 
Harpster,  Fichthorn  and  Wackernagel,  and  the  President  of 
the  Board,  the  Rev.  Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  with  a  few 
words  from  the  Rev.  G.  Sholl,  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  Board 
of  the  General  Synod,  who  had  been  sent  as  its  representa- 
tive to  testify  to  its  interest  and  sympathy  in  our  work." 

Two  days  later  the  whole  party  sailed  from  New  York. 
At  Naples  they  were  joined  by  Miss  Wahlberg  and  the  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  Arps,  who  had  left  their  son  and  daughter  in  Ger- 
many to  receive  an  education.  Rajahmundry  was  reached 
on  Christmas  Day,  1902. 

Dr.  Harpster  carried  with  him  a  letter  of  instructions,  which, 
after  defining  his  position  and  duties  as  the  special  agent  of 
the  Board  and  the  appointed  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee  in  India,  called  for  the  reorganization  of  the  Mis- 
sion under  the  new  Rules  as  soon  as  convenient  after  his 
arrival  at  Rajahmundry,  and  charged  him  with  an  inspection 
of  all  the  departments  of  the  work  of  the  Mission.1  Dr. 
Harpster's  mission  was  an  exceedingly  delicate  and  difficult 
one,  and  he  fulfilled  it  as  a  faithful  servant  of  the  Board  and 
the  General  Council.  He  rendered  our  Telugu  Mission  a  great 
and  lasting  service. 

1  See  General  Council  Minutes,  1903,  pages  38-40. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

UNDER  DR.  HARPSTER'S  LEADERSHIP  (1903-05) 

AFTER  the  arrival  of  the  reinforcements  of  1902,  no  time  was 
lost  in  organizing  the  Mission  under  the  new  Rules  and 
Regulations.  The  Mission  Council  of  all  the  missionaries 
was  reconvened  on  December  30,  1902,  elected  officers  and 
thereafter  met  regularly  every  third  month.  Arps  was 
chosen  as  the  representative  of  the  ordained  men  and  Miss 
Schade  as  the  representative  of  the  woman  missionaries  in 
the  Exectuive  Committee.1  Dr.  Harpster,  as  the  chairman 
of  this  committee  appointed  by  the  Board,  was  the  official 
correspondent.  He  succeeded  Dr.  Schmidt  as  the  missionary 
in  charge  of  the  Bhimawaram  and  the  Rajahmundry-Koru- 
konda  districts.  Fichthorn  was  the  treasurer  in  India  and 
the  superintendent  of  the  boys'  schools  in  Rajahmundry  and 
Peddapur.  He  also  conducted  an  English  service  every 
Sunday  evening  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Rajahmundry. 

At  Peddapur,  an  almost  exclusively  Brahmin  town,  about 
two  miles  west  of  Samulkot,  a  boys'  school  had  been  begun, 
in  1891,  by  Edman  as  a  private  school  of  the  primary  grade. 
When  Isaacson  succeeded  Edman  as  the  missionary  in  charge 
of  the  Samulkot  district  he  continued  the  school  and  devel- 
oped it,  until  in  April,  1903,  it  was  handed  over  to  the  Mis- 
sion as  a  High  School,  recognized  by  the  Government.  The 
Board  accepted  it  on  condition  that  a  Christian  Bible  teacher 
should  be  employed.  This  condition  was  met  the  next  year 
by  the  appointment  of  Pastor  P.  V.  Ratnam  to  that  position. 
The  teaching  staff,  with  M.  Ramo  Rao  as  headmaster,  then 
consisted  of  eighteen  qualified  Hindu  teachers.  The  enroll- 
ment for  the  year  1904  was  475,  most  of  the  pupils  being 
of  the  Brahmin  caste.  Two  buildings  were  used,  one  for  the 
Primary,  the  other  for  the  Secondary  and  High  School  depart- 

1  Later  Isaacson  was  added  to  the  committee. 
342 


UNDER  DR.  HARPSTER'S  LEADERSHIP  (1903-05)      343 

ments.  The  school  grew  so  rapidly  that  the  accommodations 
soon  became  inadequate,  and  a  new  site  was  purchased,  in 
1904,  for  $200  (Rs.  600). 

After  his  return  to  the  Mission  Arps  resumed  charge  of 
the  Dowlaishwaram  district  but  devoted  a  good  part  of  his 
tune  for  about  a  year  to  the  building  of  a  new  bungalow  on  a 
new  site,  purchased  for  $500.  The  old  building  had  been  con- 
structed on  black  cotton  soil  and  had  to  be  condemned  as 
not  tenantable.  The  new  bungalow,  completed  in  1904,  to- 
gether with  the  digging  of  the  well  and  some  improvements, 
cost  $2937.  Meanwhile  Arps  also  superintended  the  con- 
struction of  a  new  mission  house-boat  which  cost  $600,  and 
was  named  "The  Augustana."  It  was  used  by  Dr.  Harpster 
in  the  Bhimawaram  district.  The  old  "Dove  of  Peace"  was 
rebuilt  for  Neudoerffer's  use  in  the  Tanuku  taluk. 

Dr.  Edman,  who  after  Arps'  return  devoted  himself  entirely 
to  the  Tallapudi  district,  employed  more  native  Christian 
workers  than  he  could  pay  with  the  mission  funds  appro- 
priated for  his  district,  and  contracted  a  considerable  debt. 
The  Board  officially  disapproved  of  his  course  of  action  and, 
when  it  learned  that  he  nevertheless  continued  to  increase  the 
amount  of  his  indebtedness,  it  requested  his  resignation. 
He  left  the  Mission  in  May,  1903,  and  returned  to  the  United 
States. 

Miss  Martha  Strempfer,  who  gradually  succumbed  to  the 
trials  of  the  climate,  left  Rajahmundry  March  8,  1903,  and 
returned  to  her  home  in  Toledo,  O. 

Miss  Weiskotten,  who  succeeded  Miss  Kate  Sadtler  as  the 
manager  of  the  Hindu  Girls'  School  at  Riverdale  in  1902, 
was  assisted  by  Miss  Monroe,  who  also  aided  Miss  Schade 
in  the  zenana  work. 

On  January  25, 1904,  a  Training  School  for  Mistresses  was 
opened  in  connection  with  the  Girls'  Central  School,1  which 
in  May,  that  year,  was  recognized  by  the  Government. 
Before  that  Miss  Schade  had  been  obliged  to  send  the  gradu- 
ates of  her  school  to  Guntur  for  training.  Five  girls  were 

1  In  1904  the  names  of  the  boarding  schools  were  changed  to  "  Boy's  Central 
School"  and  "Girls'  Central  School." 


344       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

enrolled  in  the  first  training  class  which  was  of  a  lower 
secondary  grade.  In  order  to  make  provision  for  this  new 
department  an  addition  was  made  to  the  main  school  build- 
ing, in  1905,  at  an  expense  of  $740,  Miss  Schade  contributing 
$140  out  of  her  private  purse. 

Miss  Schade  also  began  a  school  for  Hindu  girls  of  the 
weaver  and  shepherd  castes  in  Jamipetta,  Rajahmundry,  in 
January,  1904,  which  commenced  with  an  enrollment  of 
thirty-five  pupils,  and  another  for  girls  of  the  Sudra  caste  in 
Mangalavarampetta,  Rajahmundry,  in  March  of  the  same 
year,  which  enrolled  forty-three  pupils.  Both  schools  were 
conducted  in  rented  buildings  and  with  both  Sunday  schools 
were  connected. 

Meanwhile  Miss  Weiskotten  organized  three  additional 
schools  for  Hindu  girls :  one  in  Old  Rajahmundry,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1903,  which  was  called  the  Bethlehem  School,  because 
it  was  supported  by  Bethlehem  Lutheran  Church  of  Phila- 
delphia;1 another  in  Lakshmivarampetta,  Rajahmundry,  in 
January,  1904,  for  girls  of  the  Panchama  caste;  and  a  third  in 
Aryapuram,  Rajahmundry,  in  March,  1904,  for  girls  of  the 
Brahmin  caste.  These  also  were  held  in  rented  buildings  and 
Sunday  schools  were  connected  with  them.  At  the  close  of 
the  year  1904,  the  enrollment  in  these  schools  was  as  follows: 
Bethlehem,  90;  Lakshmivarampetta,  13;  Aryapuram,  35; 
Riverdale,  70.  The  pupils  in  these  schools  are  not  Christians 
but  Hindus.  The  teachers,  however,  are,  as  far  as  possible, 
Christian  teachers,  though  the  headmasters,  as  a  rule,  have 
been  Hindus,  it  being  a  difficult  matter  to  secure  qualified 
Christian  headmasters. 

For  the  Aryapuram  school  a  site  was  purchased  with  funds 
contributed  by  Miss  Weiskotten's  friends  in  America  and 
Germany,  and  a  fine  school  house  was  erected  by  a  Brahmin 
lawyer,  M.  Achutaramayya,  as  a  gift  from  his  wife.  This 
building  was  opened  with  impressive  exercises  on  January  23, 
1907. 

1  The  Riverdale  School  was  still  being  supported  by  the  Women's  Missionary 
societies  of  St.  John's  and  St.  Mark's  churches,  Philadelphia.  After  Miss 
Weiskotten's  furlough  in  America,"  Riverdale  School  was  assigned  to  St.  John's 
alone,  and  St.  Mark's  assumed  the  support  of  the  Aryapuram  School. 


THE    ARYAPURAM    HINDU    GIRLS'    SCHOOL 
This   building   is  the   gift   of   a    Brahmin   lawyer. 


PUPILS    OF   THE    ARYAPURAM    SCHOOL 

This   school    is   attended   by    Brahmin    girls. 


CHARLOTTE    SWEXSON    TEACHING    A    CLASS    OF    BIRLE    WO.MKX 


UNDER  DR.  HARPSTER'S  LEADERSHIP  (1903-05)      345 

Isaacson  with  his  family  came  to  the  United  States  on 
furlough  in  May,  1903,  and  Arps,  in  addition  to  his  own  dis- 
trict, assumed  temporary  charge  of  the  Samulkot  district. 

Neudoerffer,  who  went  to  Tadepalligudem  in  March,  1903, 
took  charge  also  of  the  Tallapudi  district  after  Edman's 
departure  two  months  later. 

One  of  the  first  achievements  of  Dr.  Harpster  was  the 
settlement  of  the  difficulty  with  Dr.  Schmidt  with  regard  to 
the  transfer  of  certain  mission  property  to  the  Trustees  of  the 
General  Council  for  the  Board.  Writing  from  Rajahmundry 
under  date  of  January  19,  1903,  he  communicated  the  follow- 
ing to  the  Board: 

"In  the  letter  of  instruction  given  me  for  my  guidance 
when  I  should  arrive  in  India,  occurs  the  following:  'Dr. 
Harpster  may  note  and  report  to  the  Board  any  proposition 
Dr.  Schmidt  may  make  with  reference  to  the  property  which 
he  has  not  yet  transferred  to  the  Mission.'  In  another  letter, 
dated  October  31,  1902,  the  following  instruction  is  given: 
'Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  instructed  to 
treat  with  Dr.  Schmidt,  first,  to  decide  what  properties  belong 
to  this  Board;  and,  secondly,  what  is  the  just  value  of  Dr. 
Schmidt's  interests  in  any  property  to  which  our  Mission 
has  a  claim,  and  to  report  to  this  Board  at  what  price  Dr. 
Schmidt's  interests  may  be  purchased,  itemizing  the  proper- 
ties.' The  properties  in  which  Dr.  Schmidt  claims  an  interest 
are  the  following:  i.  The  Riverdale  land,  which  he  values  at 
Rs.  36,300.  2.  The  parcel  of  ground  once  selected  as  a  site 
of  the  'Seminary'  and  containing  thirty  acres,  more  or  less, 
which  he  values  at  Rs.  3000.  3.  The  plot  of  ground  on  which 
the  mission  church  at  Velpur  stands,  containing  two  acres, 
which  he  values  at  Rs.  400.  4.  The  land  along  the  street 
opposite  the  Rajahmundry  church,  occupied  by  some  native 
houses,  valued  at  Rs.  400.  5.  Mission  property  or  so  much 
of  it  as  required  by  the  Mission,  no  value  fixed.  Total, 
Rs.  40,100  ($13,367).  All  the  above  property  Dr.  Schmidt 
agrees  to  convey  to  the  Mission,  under  a  duly  executed  con- 
veyance, on  the  following  conditions:  i.  That  the  General 
Council,  acting  through  its  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  pay 


346       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

to  his  wife  and  himself,  or  to  the  survivor  during  life,  three 
hundred  dollars  ($300)  annually.  2.  That  it  pay  to  his 
daughter,  Miss  Dagmar  Schmidt,  one  years'  salary,  viz., 
five  hundred  dollars  ($500).  3.  That  it  pay  him  the  salary 
which  was  due  him  at  the  rate  which  he  had  hitherto  received, 
up  to  August  i,  1902,  viz.,  six  hundred  dollars  ($600). 

"Yours  faithfully, 

J.  H.  Harpster." 

"I  hold  myself  in  readiness  to  carry  out  in  good  faith 
the  above  agreement,  provided  the  General  Council,  through 
its  Foreign  Mission  Board,  will,  under  a  formal  document, 
guarantee  to  myself  and  wife,  or  the  survivor  during  life,  the 
annual  payment  of  the  sum  of  three  hundred  dollars. 

"H.  C.  Schmidt."1 

After  mature  consideration  the  Board  resolved:  "That 
in  consideration  of  the  transfer  by  Dr.  Schmidt  to  the  Gen- 
eral Council  by  good  and  sufficient  title,  clear  of  all  incum- 
brances,  of  the  properties  mentioned,  this  Board  agrees  that 
Miss  Dagmar  Schmidt  be  allowed  the  sum  of  $500,  and  Dr. 
Schmidt  be  allowed  the  sum  of  $600,  and  that  the  same  be 
paid  by  the  appropriation  of  $900  out  of  the  $1000  pre- 
viously sent  Dr.  Schmidt,  and  a  cash  payment  to  Dr.  Schmidt 
for  the  balance,  viz.,  $200;  and  that  the  Board  recommend 
to  the  General  Council  that  it  agree  to  pay  annually  to  Dr. 
Schmidt  and  wife,  or  the  survivor  of  them  during  life,  $300, 
from  the  date  of  the  conveyance  of  the  properties  and  giving 
possession  thereof." 

Dr.  Schmidt  vacated  Riverdale  bungalow  in  March,  1903, 
and  moved  to  Kotagiri,  Nilgiri  Hills,  where  he  had  built  two 
houses.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Harpster  at  once  moved  into  this 
bungalow  and  continued  to  occupy  it  as  long  as  they  remained 
in  India.  The  payment  of  the  stipulated  annuity  began  in 

1  After  having  read  over  the  correspondence  one  cannot  avoid  the  impression 
that  Dr.  Schmidt  felt  that  he  had  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  Board  in 
order  to  secure  a  pension.  The  Board  would  unquestionably  have  granted  the 
pension  without  such  pressure.  Moreover,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
property  to  which  he  laid  claim,  was  largely  such  as  he  had  already  donated  to 
the  Mission,  but  which  had  not  yet  been  legally  transferred. 


UNDER  DR.  HARPSTER'S  LEADERSHIP  (1903-05)      347 

April,  1903,  although  the  deed  of  transfer  was  not  actually 
executed  until  April,  1904. 

During  the  first  year  of  medical  work  substantial  progress 
was  made.  As  many  as  2026  new  patients  came  to  the  Dis- 
pensary, making  4998  visits.  Dr.  Lydia  Woerner  also  made 
432  visits  to  patients  in  houses  and  performed  84  surgical 
operations.  Sunday  schools  were  conducted  for  patients  and 
Eurasian  children  in  the  Dispensary  and  Medical  Home. 
A  temporary  hospital  was  opened  in  1904  in  a  rented  build- 
ing in  Rajahmundry. 

In  1903  the  Board  began  to  pursue  a  more  liberal  policy  in 
the  matter  of  allowances  to  missionaries.  A  horse  was  pur- 
chased for  each  missionary  needing  one,  and  horse  allowance 
of  $80  a  year  was  granted.  The  summer  vacation  was  length- 
ened to  eight  weeks.  The  heavier  furniture  in  the  bungalows 
was  provided.  Munshi  (teacher's)  allowance  was  granted  new 
missionaries  while  studying  the  language,  and  additional  batta 
(travelling  allowance)  was  allowed  for  missionaries  on  tour. 
The  travelling  expenses  of  the  members  of  the  Board,  when 
attending  meetings,  were  also  paid.  When  Isaacson  returned 
to  the  Mission  in  1904,  the  allowance  for  each  child  of  a  mis- 
sionary, over  seven  years  of  age,  separated  from  its  parents 
to  be  educated,  was  raised  from  $50  to  $100  a  year. 

At  the  convention  of  the  General  Council1  in  the  church  of 
the  Trinity,  Norristown,  Pa.,  on  Friday  evening,  October  9, 
1903,  the  Rev.  Edward  H.  Trafford,  then  pastor  of  the  Pike- 
land  charge  near  Kimberton,  Pa.,  was  commissioned  as  a 
foreign  missionary.  He  arrived  at  Rajahmundry  in  Decem- 
ber, that  year,  and  after  having  studied  the  vernacular  and 
assisted  several  of  the  older  missionaries,  he  resigned  in 
January,  1908,  and  returned  to  the  United  States. 

The  Rev.  Karl  L.  Wolters,  called  as  the  missionary  to  be 
supported  by  the  Luther  Leagues  of  Buffalo,  was  commis- 

1  Several  changes  occurred  in  the  membership  of  the  Board  in  1903.  The 
Rev.  J.  J.  Heischmann,  D.  D.,  and  Mr.  James  Dangler  resigned.  The  General 
Council  that  year  elected  the  following  new  members:  The  Revs.  John  A.  W. 
Haas,  D.  D.,  and  George  Drach,  and  Messrs.  P.  A.  Rydberg,  W.  F.  Monroe  and 
J.  Martin  Rommel;  but  the  last  named  declined  to  serve  and  the  Board  elected 
Mr.  Charles  B.  Opp  to  fill  the  vacancy. 


348       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

sioned  on  Sunday  evening,  June  12,  1904,  in  Christus  Church, 
Buffalo,  the  Rev.  T.  H.  Becker  pastor,  in  the  presence  of  the 
New  York  Ministerium.  He  was  born  October  26,  1863,  in 
Hamburg,  Germany.  He  is  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Karl  J.  Wolters 
and  his  wife  Mary  Louise,  nee  Averdieck.  His  father  served 
as  a  pastor  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  Hamburg,  for  many  years. 
After  having  studied  at  the  Imperial  Gymnasium,  Flensborg, 
Germany,  he  came  to  the  United  States  when  he  was  twenty- 
four  years  of  age.  He  studied  theology  in  the  Lutheran 
Seminary  at  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1890.  For  three  years  he  served  the  Lutheran 
congregation  at  Phcenixville,  Pa.,  and  then  went  to  Utica, 
N.  Y.,  where  he  served  eleven  years.  On  his  way  to  India 
he  spent  several  months  with  his  father  in  Hamburg,  Germany, 
and  then  he  proceeded  to  Rajahmundry,  which  he  reached  in 
December,  1904. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Isaacson  with  their  four  younger  children 
left  the  United  States  October  3,  1904,  to  return  to  the  Mis- 
sion. Their  two  sons  were  left  in  Bethany  College,  Linds- 
borg,  Kansas.  The  daughters  who  were  taken  to  India  were 
later  sent  to  a  school  at  Kodaikanal. 

Fichthorn,  having  suffered  severely  from  the  climate  of 
South  India,  asked  to  be  permitted  to  return  to  the  United 
States.  Permission  was  given,  and  after  the  Board  had 
heard  him  at  its  meeting  on  April  21,  1904,  it  accepted  his 
resignation  in  the  following  resolution:  "Resolved,  That  the 
Board  accepts  the  resignation  of  the  Rev.  A.  S.  Fichthorn 
with  regret,  the  resignation  to  take  effect  May  ist,  and  hereby 
gives  expression  to  its  sense  of  the  value  of  the  service  he  has 
rendered,  and  its  deep  regret  that  he  has  been  unable  to  con- 
tinue in  its  employment."  By  contributions  from  his  private 
purse  and  by  largely  increased  offerings  from  the  influential 
congregations  which  he  afterward  served — the  church  of  the 
Holy  Communion,  Philadelphia,  and  the  church  of  the 
Trinity,  Norristown,  to  whose  pastorate  he  returned  in 
November,  1907 — he  more  than  made  up  what  the  Board 
had  expended  to  send  him  to  India  and  bring  him  back. 
From  October,  1905,  to  October,  1907,  he  served  as  a  member 


UNDER  DR.  HARPSTER'S  LEADERSHIP  (1903-05)      349 

of  the  Board.  He  died  on  January  29,  1912,  in  Norristown, 
aged  fifty- three  years. 

Wackernagel  succeeded  Fichthorn  as  the  treasurer  in  India 
and  the  manager  of  the  boys'  schools. 

After  the  title  to  the  property  just  outside  of  Rajahmundry, 
which  Dr.  Schmidt  had  donated  as  the  site  of  the  new  build- 
ings for  the  Boys'  Central  School,  had  been  established 
beyond  all  uncertainty,  it  was  decided  to  proceed  at  once 
with  the  erection  of  the  much-needed  buildings.  Ten  acres 
of  adjoining  land,  containing  a  lime-kiln,  were  purchased  for 
$458.  Plans  and  estimates  for  a  main  building,  a  dormitory 
and  a  missionary's  dwelling,  prepared  in  India,  were  approved 
by  the  Board  in  September,  1904.  Mr.  F.  J.  McCready, 
formerly  one  of  the  missionaries,  was  employed  as  the  super- 
intendent of  construction.  The  corner-stone  of  the  main 
building  was  laid  with  appropriate  ceremonies  on  July  25, 
1905,  and  the  contract  called  for  the  completion  of  all  the 
buildings  in  eighteen  months,  but  the  illness  of  Mr.  Mc- 
Cready from  cholera,  and  other  matters,  delayed  the  building 
operations. 

Charges  were  preferred  against  Pastor  C.  James  and  were 
investigated  by  the  ordained  missionaries,  meeting  as  a 
Ministerium  on  February  2,  1905,  the  result  being  the  definite 
suspension  of  James  from  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry  by 
the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
Ministerium. 

In  1905  Neudoerffer  purchased  for  the  Mission  a  house- 
boat for  $200,  giving  it  the  name  of  "The  Canada." 

The  year  1905  was  marked  by  the  return  of  Miss  Charlotte 
Swenson  to  the  Mission,  and  the  addition  of  two  ordained 
men  and  one  woman  missionary  to  the  force  in  India. 

Miss  Swenson,  after  having  regained  her  health  in  Cali- 
fornia and  having  been  pronounced  by  competent  physicians 
to  be  entirely  free  from  every  trace  of  tuberculosis,  requested 
the  Board  to  send  her  back  to  the  Mission.  Recalling  her 
excellent  work  during  her  first  term  of  service  in  India,  and 
being  very  much  in  need  of  some  one  to  take  charge  of  the 
zenana  work,  the  Board  decided  to  send  her  back.  A  fare- 


350       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

well  service  was  held  in  the  Gustavus  Adolphus  Swedish 
Lutheran  Church,  New  York  City,  January  13,  1905.  Miss 
Swenson  reached  Rajahmundry  on  February  24th.  She  threw 
all  her  restored  energy  into  the  zenana  work  and  managed  it 
with  marked  success  for  over  a  year.  In  1906  she  reported 
four  Bible-women  at  work  in  Rajahmundry  and  one  in  Dow- 
laishwaram,  230  houses  visited  weekly  in  the  former  and  40 
in  the  latter  town,  and  over  1200  women  and  children  re- 
ceiving regular  religious  instruction  from  her  and  her  Bible- 
women.  She  also  began  and  conducted  a  number  of  Sunday 
schools  in  different  parts  of  Rajahmundry.  Her  health, 
however,  suffered  under  the  strain  of  her  work,  and  in 
January,  1908,  she  was  granted  a  sick-leave  in  Australia. 
She  returned  from  this  trip  in  a  few  weeks  only  slightly 
benefited  and  gradually  succumbed  to  consumption,  which 
caused  her  death  on  July  20,  1908.  Her  life  was  a  beautiful 
example  of  self-sacrificing  ministry  to  her  Lord.  All  the  mis- 
sionaries and  native  Christians  paid  tributes  to  her  noble 
character  and  her  valuable  service.  She  was  the  first  woman 
missionary  to  lay  down  her  life  on  our  foreign  mission  field. 
Her  body  was  buried  in  the  Christian  cemetery  at  Rajah- 
mundry. In  her  last  will  and  testament  she  bequeathed  all 
her  earthly  possessions  to  the  Mission  which  she  had  so 
faithfully  and  lovingly  served.1 

As  the  time  of  Dr.  Woerner's  furlough  drew  near,  the  neces- 
sity of  sending  out  a  woman  physician  to  take  her  place  during 
the  time  of  furlough  and  to  co-operate  in  the  medical  work 
became  pressing.  Neither  Miss  Amy  B.  Rohrer  nor  Miss 
Betty  A.  Nilsson,  under  preparation  as  medical  missionaries, 
were  ready  to  be  sent  out  at  this  time.  Fortunately  the 
Board  heard  of  the  willingness  of  Dr.  Julia  Van  der  Veer  to  go 
to  India  at  once,  and  after  having  been  introduced  to  the  Board 
by  Dr.  Mary  Baer  of  the  Guntur  Mission,  then  on  furlough, 

1  In  the  Arbuthnot  failure  of  1906  she  suffered  the  loss  of  all  her  deposits  in 
that  bank,  but  generous  friends  in  the  United  States  reimbursed  her  account. 
Six  hundred  dollars  of  the  Charlotte  Swenson  Fund  have  been  invested  by  the 
Board  in  the  United  States.  Several  of  the  women's  missionary  societies  are 
gathering  money  to  increase  this  fund  in  the  hope  that  ultimately  enough  will 
be  secured  to  erect  a  Charlotte  Swenson  Memorial. 


UNDER  DR.  HARPSTER'S  LEADERSHIP  (1903-05)      351 

she  was  duly  called.  She  was  born  in  Bushnell,  111.,  but 
afterward  moved  with  her  parents  to  Peabody,  Kan.,  where 
she  attended  the  public  school  and  was  graduated  from  the 
High  School  of  that  place.  She  took  her  medical  course 
in  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  Baltimore,  the  Woman's 
Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  and  Johns  Hopkins  Univer- 
sity. She  then  entered  the  Deaconess  Home  and  Motherhouse 
of  the  General  Synod  at  Baltimore,  and  was  a  consecrated 
sister  in  that  institution  when  she  was  called  to  go  to  Rajah- 
mundry.  The  Baltimore  Motherhouse  released  her  from 
every  obligation  in  order  to  permit  her  to  accept  the  call 
of  the  Board.  She  was  commissioned  on  September  24, 
1905,  in  St.  Mark's  English  Lutheran  Church,  Philadelphia, 
and  arrived  at  Rajahmundry  November  23d,  that  year. 
She  took  Dr.  Woerner's  place  in  the  medical  work  at  Rajah- 
mundry while  the  latter  was  on  furlough  in  America.  She 
was  married  on  January  22,  1907,  to  the  Rev.  Ernst  Neu- 
doerffer  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Rajahmundry,  by  Dr.  Harp- 
ster,  the  ceremony  being  performed  in  the  presence  of  the 
missionaries  and  a  large  congregation  of  native  Christians. 
This  was  the  first  wedding  of  General  Council  missionaries 
on  the  field. 

The  three  years  of  the  special  arrangement  with  the  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  General  Synod  for  the  services  of 
Dr.  Harpster  expired  on  April  i,  1905.  The  General  Council's 
Board  requested  that  he  be  permitted  to  remain  at  Rajahmun- 
dry, inasmuch  as  his  removal  would  be  disastrous  to  the  work. 
Upon  this  representation  the  General  Synod's  Board  very 
courteously  decided  not  to  disturb  the  arrangement  and  to 
make  it  indefinite  in  its  duration.  In  1906  Dr.  Harpster 
transferred  his  membership  from  the  Maryland  Synod  to  the 
Pennsylvania  Ministerium  and  thus  became  a  missionary  of 
the  General  Council  in  the  service  of  its  Board. 

The  two  ordained  men  sent  out  in  1905  were  the  Revs.  0.  L. 
Larson  and  O.  O.  Eckardt. 

Oscar  Leonard  Larson,  son  of  Lars  Peter  Larson  and  his 
wife  Maria,  nee  Johnson,  was  born  July  2,  1876,  in  Mead, 
Neb.  He  studied  at  Luther  Academy,  Wahoo,  Neb.,  and 


352       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

then  entered  Augustana  College,  Rock  Island,  111.,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  1902.  Three  years  later,  having 
taken  the  theological  course  in  Augustana  Seminary,  he  was 
ordained  at  the  meeting  of  the  Augustana  Synod,  June  n, 
1905,  in  Stanton,  la.  Ten  days  afterward  he  married  Lillie 
Olivia  Liliedahl  of  Swedesburg,  Neb.  Having  accepted  the 
call  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  he  was  commissioned 
at  the  convention  of  the  General  Council  in  the  church  of  the 
Redeemer,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  October  12,  1905.  In  the  com- 
pany of  the  Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eckardt  they  sailed  from 
Philadelphia,  and,  after  spending  a  few  weeks  in  Sweden, 
they  proceeded  to  Rajahmundry,  which  was  reached  January 
16,  1906. 

Olaus  Olson  Eckardt,  son  of  Olaf  Martin  Anderson  and 
his  wife  Agneta,  nee  Anderson,  was  born  May  19,  1872,  in 
Lur,  Bohnslaen  Province,  Sweden.  He  came  to  the  United 
States  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  He  studied  at  Upsala  Col- 
lege and  completed  his  classical  course  in  Augustana  College. 
After  having  begun  his  theological  studies  in  the  Lutheran 
Theological  Seminary,  Chicago,  he  finished  at  Augustana 
Seminary  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1905.  He  was 
ordained  at  the  same  time  as  the  Rev.  Mr.  Larson.  On 
September  27,  1905,  he  married  Julia  Amelia  Swanson,  of 
Cambridge,  111.  Commissioned  together  with  Mr.  Larson, 
he  accompanied  him  to  India.  The  Young  Ladies'  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  of  the  First  Swedish  Lutheran  Church, 
St.  Paul,  Minn.,  for  a  number  of  years  has  contributed  a 
part  of  Mr.  Eckardt's  salary. 

Parallel  with  the  development  of  the  Mission  and  the  in- 
crease of  missionaries  an  effort  was  made  by  the  Board,  in 
1905,  to  provide  for  a  more  efficient  home  administration  by 
the  distribution  of  its  members  into  standing  committees, 
each  charged  with  some  particular  branch  of  the  mission  work. 

On  the  recommendation  of  the  Finance  Committee  a  special 
fund  was  created  and  maintained  in  India,  in  1905,  known  as 
the  Emergency  Fund  from  which  small,  incidental  expenses 
are  paid  as  needed,  thus  obviating  the  necessity  of  continually 
sending  little  sums  of  money  for  special  purposes.  A  form  of 


UNDER  DR.  HARPSTER'S  LEADERSHIP  (1903-05)      353 

contract  between  the  Board  and  its  missionaries,  still  in  use, 
was  adopted  in  1905.* 

The  business  management  of  "The  Foreign  Missionary" 
was  transferred  on  July  i,  1905,  to  the  Board  of  Publication 
of  the  General  Council.  At  the  close  of  that  year  the  Rev. 
E.  E.  Sibole,  D.  D.,  resigned  as  the  editor  of  "The  Foreign 
Missionary,"  after  twelve  years  of  efficient  and  faithful  service 
in  that  capacity.  The  editorship  of  this  paper,  after  a  brief 
period  under  the  Rev.  William  Ashmead  Schaeffer,  D.  D., 
was  entrusted  to  the  General  Secretary  of  the  Board,  the  Rev. 
George  Drach.2 

During  the  early  part  of  1905,  much  attention  was  given 
by  the  Board  to  the  matter  of  securing  some  one  who  could 
attend  its  meetings  and  who  should  give  all  his  time  to  its 
interests  and  act  as  its  executive.  This  officer  was  to  be 
called  the  General  Secretary  and  his  duties  were  defined  as 
follows: 

"He  shall  give  the  President,  Secretaries  and  Editors  of 
the  papers,  such  clerical  assistance  as  the  Board  may  deter- 
mine from  time  to  tune. 

"He  shall  present  at  each  meeting  of  the  Board  a  list  of  all 
letters  and  reports  received  from  the  missionaries  since  the 
former  meeting,  together  with  an  outline  of  the  contents  and 
a  statement  of  the  points  requiring  action;  and  he  may  offer 
suggestions  for  proper  action  and  shall  be  ready  to  furnish 
any  letters  included  in  the  list,  for  consideration  by  the  Board. 

"He  shall  file  and  preserve  an  index  of  all  letters  etc.,  to 
and  from  the  missionaries,  also  copies  of  all  correspondence 
from  the  Board,  and  he  shall  keep  for  reference  an  account 
of  the  business,  treasury,  schools  and  other  work  of  the 
missionaries. 

"He  shall  represent  the  Board  before  the  synods,  conven- 
tions and  congregations,  as  directed  by  the  Board,  or  during 
the  interval  by  the  President. 

"He  shall  devise  and  recommend  means  to  the  Board  for 

1  See  General  Council  Minutes,  1905,  page  45. 

2  In  the  place  of  Dr.  J.  A.  W.  Haas,  resigned  July,  1904,  the  Rev.  John  A. 
Weyl  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Board,  and  in  the  place  of  Dr.  C.  A.  Blomgren, 
resigned  October,  1904,  Dr.  G.  Nelsenius  was  elected. 

23 


354       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

increasing  the  income  and  developing  the  interest  of  the 
Church. 

"He  shall,  as  circumstances  may  require,  gather  and  pre- 
sent to  the  Board  information  as  to  the  methods  of  other 
Missions. 

"He  shall  at  every  meeting  of  the  Board  give  a  detailed 
report  of  his  work. 

"He  shall  be  ready  to  spend  at  least  six  months  and  not 
more  than  a  year  in  India,  to  study  the  conditions,  in  case  the 
Board  should  so  require." 

The  Rev.  George  Drach,  a  member  of  the  Board,  then  pastor 
of  St.  Stephen's  Church,  West  Philadelphia,  was  chosen  to  fill 
this  new  office. 

George  Drach,  eldest  son  of  John  Peter  Drach  and  his  wife 
S.  A.  Pauline,  nee  Simon,  was  born  September  3,  1873,  ^ 
Greenport,  Long  Island,  N.  Y.  After  having  attended  the 
public  school  in  that  village  and  passed  through  the  two 
lower  grades  of  the  High  School,  he  went  to  Rochester,  N. 
Y.,  to  study  in  Wagner  Memorial  Lutheran  College  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  1892.  He  studied  theology  in 
the  Seminary  at  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  and  was  ordained  in 
1895,  a*  the  meeting  of  the  New  York  Ministerium,  in  St. 
Peter's  German  Lutheran  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  After 
having  supplied  the  pulpit  of  the  church  of  the  Ascension, 
Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  during  the  summer  months  of  1895,  he 
became  the  assistant  pastor  of  Trinity  Church,  Reading,  Pa., 
remaining,  after  the  resignation  of  the  Rev.  J.  Fry,  D.  D.,  to 
supply  the  pulpit  until  a  successor  had  been  elected.  Having 
received  and  accepted  a  call  to  become  pastor  of  St.  Stephen's 
Church,  West  Philadelphia,  he  began  his  pastorate  there  in 
June,  1897,  serving  for  eight  years,  until  he  became  the  Gen- 
eral Secretary  of  the  Board.  He  married  on  October  19, 
1899,  Marie  Douglas  Sterr  of  Philadelphia,  a  granddaughter, 
on  her  mother's  side,  of  the  Rev.  C.  F.  Welden,  D.  D. 

In  its  report  to  the  General  Council  in  1905,  the  Board 
recommended  "that  November  29th  or  a  date  near  then  be 
duly  commemorated  in  our  churches  as  a  bicentenary  of  the 
sailing  of  Bartholomew  Ziegenbalg  and  Heinrich  Pluetschau 


UNDER  DR.  HARPSTER'S  LEADERSHIP  (1903-05)      355 

to  India  and  of  the  foundation  not  only  of  Lutheran  but  of 
Protestant  Foreign  Missions."  This  recommendation  was 
heartily  adopted  and  in  many  churches  the  bicentennial  was 
observed.  The  Board  issued  a  special  appeal  for  its  obser- 
vance, and  its  President  and  General  Secretary  delivered  a 
number  of  commemorative  addresses  at  large  gatherings  in 
Philadelphia  and  elsewhere. 

In  the  Introduction  of  the  Report  of  the  American  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Mission  in  the  Godavery  District,  India, 
for  the  year  1904,  presented  by  the  Board  to  the  General 
Council  in  1905,  Dr.  Harpster  wrote:  "We  call  especial  atten- 
tion to  the  statistical  exhibit  of  the  year.  Unless  this  is  given, 
an  intelligent  grasp  of  the  work  cannot  be  gained.  In  almost 
every  item  our  report  shows  an  increase.  The  additions  by 
baptisms  during  the  year  were  2056.  Our  baptized  mem- 
bership now  numbers  11,938.  The  number  of  inquirers,  viz., 
the  number  undergoing  instruction  in  the  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  Christianity,  with  more  or  less  earnestness  on  their 
part,  is  2228.  The  pupils  in  our  mission  schools  number 
5227 — a  very  gratifying  increase  over  the  previous  report. 
In  money  and  in  kind  our  people  gave  during  the  year  Rs. 
2577-9-11  ($859),  or  an  increase  of  Rs.  1779-7-2.  The  num- 
ber of  congregations  according  to  the  statistical  table  increased 
by  24." 

The  following  table  of  statistics  shows  the  notable  increase 
in  every  department  of  the  mission. 

1890.   1893.   1900.    1905. 

Foreign  missionaries 4  7  5  9 

Woman  missionaries 2  3  5  7 

Native  pastors 2  2  2  2 

Native  helpers 89  138  140  235 

Congregations 127  200  210  270 

Christians 3056  5036  6159  12,822 

Pupils  in  school 1473  2719  3500  5>736 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

MANIFOLD    ACTIVITY    (1906-09) 

Miss  Emily  L.  Weiskotten  and  Dr.  Lydia  Woerner  took 
their  first  furloughs  in  1906,  the  former  leaving  Rajahmundry 
on  February  i9th,  that  year,  and  returning  on  December  22, 
1007;  the  latter  leaving  on  April  13,  1906,  and  returning  on 
January  28,  1908.  In  the  United  States  and  Canada  they 
delivered  many  addresses  to  women's  missionary  societies, 
congregations  and  conventions,  and  succeeded  in  developing 
a  deeper  and  wider  interest  in  woman's  work  for  women  in 
India.1 

After  Dr.  Harpster,  in  1906,  had  urged  that  a  catechist  be 
sent  from  Rajahmundry  to  Rangoon,  Burma,  to  care  for  the 
Telugu  Lutheran  Christians  employed  in  and  near  that  city, 
he  was  sent  personally  to  inspect  the  field,  and  having  reported 
favorably,  Vungara  Sriramulu  of  Rajahmundry  was  located 
in  Rangoon,  in  May,  1907,  but  after  six  months  of  fruitless 
effort  he  returned  to  Rajahmundry.  It  was  felt,  however,  that 
something  further  ought  to  be  done  for  the  Christian  Telugus 
in  Rangoon;  and  when  the  Mission  Council  recommended  a 
second  attempt,  Kuder  was  directed  to  investigate  the  field 
anew.  He  went  to  Rangoon  in  May,  1911,  and  six  months 
later,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Ministerium  in  India 
and  with  the  Board's  authorization,  Catechist  A.  Anandap- 
pan  of  Tallapudi  was  sent  to  make  a  second  effort  to  gather 
and  organize  a  congregation.  He  arrived  in  Rangoon  on  Nov. 
14,  1911,  and  in  a  year  he  gathered  a  congregation  of  238 
Telugu  Lutherans,  of  whom  194  were  communicants. 

On  January  6, 1906,  representatives  of  our  Mission  and  that 
of  the  Canadian  (Ontario  and  Quebec)  Mission  met  and 
formulated  an  agreement  on  boundary  lines  and  principles  of 

1  Dr.  Woerner  was  painfully  injured  in  an  accident  on  the  Lake  Shore  Electric 
Railway  near  Toledo,  Ohio,  September  19,  1907,  but  recovered  in  time  to  leave 
the  United  States  on  December  10,  1907. 

356 


CATECHIST   A.   ANANDAPPAN,   WIFE   AND    SONS 

This   catechist   is   now   stationed   at   Rangoon,    Burma,    where   he   has   organized 
a   large   congregation   of   Telugu   Lutherans. 


TEACHERS  AND  PUPILS  OF  THE  BOYS'  CENTRAL  SCHOOL, 
RAJAHMUNDRY 

This  picture  was  taken   in  front  of  the  Main   Building  in   1913. 


MANIFOLD    ACTIVITY    (1906-09)  357 

mission  comity,  which  was  ratified  by  both  of  the  Boards 
in  America.  In  the  Ramachendrapuram  and  Bhimawaram 
taluks  certain  boundary  lines  between  the  two  Missions  were 
established.  The  following  principles  were  adopted:  i. 
"Neither  Mission  will  receive  any  agent  or  member  from  the 
other  without  the  full  and  written  consent  of  the  missionary 
of  such  agent  or  member.  2.  Neither  Mission  will  enter  a 
village  to  do  mission  work  where  the  other  has  established 
itself  and  is  making  a  fair  effort  to  bring  the  people  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth."  The  Lutheran  Mission  agreed  not 
to  locate  a  station  at  Pittapur  on  condition  that  the  Baptist 
Mission  agreed  not  to  put  a  station  at  Jaggampetta.  All 
issues  relating  to  this  agreement  are  to  be  referred,  first  of  all, 
to  a  committee  of  six  missionaries,  three  from  each  Mission. 
On  February  14-16,  1912,  committees  of  both  Missions  met 
at  Samulkot  and  drew  up  a  further  agreement,  fixing  addi- 
tional boundary  lines,  providing  for  a  territory  common  to 
both  Missions  and  arranging  for  the  sale  of  the  bungalow 
at  Peddapur  to  the  Lutheran  Mission  for  $2,640.00  and  the 
withdrawal  of  the  Baptists  from  that  town. 

After  Dr.  Harpster's  appeal  for  a  new  Mission  Press  had 
been  presented  at  the  convention  of  the  General  Council  in 
1905,  Mr.  James  G.  Finley  of  Philadelphia  secured  the  dona- 
tion of  a  double  demy  press  from  the  firm  of  R.  Hoe  and  Co.,  of 
New  York  City,  which  was  shipped  to  Rajahmundry  in  1906. 
Mr.  William  P.  M.  Braun  of  Philadelphia  supplied  the  Print- 
ery  with  a  first-class  outfit  of  type  and  other  material,  and  has 
become  the  patron  of  this  important  branch  of  the  Mission, 
which  has  received  the  name  of  The  Braun  Industrial  Mission 
Printery.  Under  the  efficient  management  of  Kuder  the 
Printery  did  admirable  work  in  the  dissemination  of  Chris- 
tian literature  in  the  Telugu  language,  and  by  the  publication 
for  a  number  of  years  of  "The  Gospel  Witness,"  the  English 
organ  of  the  Lutheran  Missions  in  India,  of  "Bible  Story," 
Stump's  "Catechism"  and  other  publications  in  the  vernacu- 
lar. In  1912  a  second-hand  and  larger  press  was  ordered 
and  sent  from  England,  Mr.  Braun  furnishing  a  portion  of 
the  necessary  funds. 


358       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

"A  financial  disaster  that  came  upon  the  Mission  like  a 
bolt  out  of  the  blue  sky  was  the  failure  of  the  banking-house 
of  Messrs.  Arbuthnot  &  Co.,  in  October,  1906.  For  upward 
of  forty  years  the  Mission  had  been  depositing  its  funds  with 
this  firm  which  had  back  of  it  a  record  of  106  years  of  honor- 
able business.  At  the  end  of  a  century  and  more  this  honored 
house  of  Arbuthnot,  under  the  criminal  manipulation  of  a  dis- 
honored scion,  became  the  greatest  confidence  game  of  modern 
times.  It  has  been  designated  as  one  of  the  most  gigantic 
insolvency  cases  ever  known  in  the  world.  Eight  thousand 
creditors  went  down  in  the  crash,  many  of  them  reduced  to 
absolute  poverty.  The  Mission,  together  with  a  number  of 
the  missionaries,  lost  upward  of  twenty  thousand  dollars. 
Several  of  the  missionaries  lost  every  cent  they  had  in  the 
world." 

When  the  Church  at  home  learned  of  this  calamity,  many 
friends  of  the  Mission  and  of  the  missionaries  at  once  came 
to  the  rescue,  and  in  a  few  months  more  than  enough  to  make 
up  the  loss  to  the  Mission,  amounting  to  $6,000.00,  was  con- 
tributed, and  the  private  purses  of  the  unfortunate  mission- 
aries were  replenished  either  wholly  or  in  part.  Later,  about 
twenty-five  cents  on  the  dollar  were  paid  back  by  the  bankrupt 
firm. 

Dr.  Harpster  met  with  a  painful  accident  on  July  2,  1907, 
while  on  a  vacation  at  Kotagiri,  Nilgiri  Hills,  when  he  fell  from 
a  bicycle  and  sprained  his  thigh.  Fortunately  his  recovery 
was  complete.  After  his  return  to  Rajahmundry  he  resigned, 
in  September,  1907,  as  "Temporary  Director"  of  the  Mission, 
inasmuch  as  the  work  by  that  time  had  been  thoroughly  reor- 
ganized under  the  Rules.  He  continued,  however,  to  discharge 
the  duties  of  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee.  The 
missionaries,  dissatisfied  with  certain  features  of  the  form  of 
government  in  the  Mission,  petitioned  the  Board,  in  1907,  for 
the  abolition  of  the  Executive  Committee  in  India  and  for 
more  autonomy  in  the  administration  of  the  Mission.  This 
led  eventually  to  a  revision  of  the  Rules. 

The  cause  of  missions  in  the  Church  at  home  sustained  a 
severe  loss  by  the  death  of  the  Rev.  William  Ashmead  Schaeffer, 


MANIFOLD    ACTIVITY    (1906-09)  359 

D.  D.,  on  July  27,  1907.  He  had  served  continuously  as  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  for  a  period  of  more 
than  twenty-five  years.  He  was  identified  with  "The  Foreign 
Missionary,"  as  editor  or  associate  editor,  with  occasional 
brief  interruptions,  from  the  tune  of  its  first  publication,  hi 
1880,  to  the  day  of  his  death.  He  was  the  Board's  English 
Recording  and  Corresponding  Secretary  from  October,  1888, 
to  February,  1891,  and  then  its  Corresponding  Secretary 
until  November,  1906,  when  he  resigned  on  account  of  the 
illness  which  eventually  caused  his  death.  He  served  in  these 
positions  without  the  slightest  remuneration.  He  was  always 
willing  and  ready  to  sacrifice  his  time  and  give  his  talents  for 
the  cause  of  foreign  missions,  and  his  familiarity  with  the 
history,  problems,  needs  and  prospects  of  the  Telugu  mission 
gave  him  a  commanding  position  in  the  counsels  of  the  Board. 
In  his  last  will  and  testament  he  generously  remembered  the 
Mission  which  he  had  so  faithfully  served  during  his  life. 

In  1907  the  long  drawn-out  negotiations  with  Dr.  Schmidt 
concerning  the  transfer  of  all  the  mission  property  to  the 
Trustees  of  the  General  Council  for  the  Board  were  finally 
ended  by  the  completion  of  the  transactions  relative  to  the  so- 
called  "Haas  lands."  Two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  acres  of 
land  were  transferred  under  secure  title,  registered  in  the  land 
office  at  Bhimawaram.  In  1912  the  "Haas  Lands"  were 
sold  for  $8,335.00  (Rs.  25,000)  to  M.  Ramanayya  and  the 
proceeds  were  devoted  to  the  erection  of  a  building  for  the 
Boys'  High  School  at  Peddapur,  which  is  known  as  the  Char- 
lotte Sophia  Haas  Memorial. 

The  development  of  the  lace  industry  in  the  Mission  was 
surprisingly  rapid  under  the  personal,  efficient  management 
of  Mrs.  Harpster.  In  her  last  report  of  this  department, 
made  at  the  close  of  the  year  1908,  Mrs.  Harpster  gave  a 
brief  account  of  some  of  the  features  of  the  work.  "In 
February,  1904,"  she  wrote,  "we  sent  two  small,  sample 
boxes  of  lace  to  America.  The  lace  met  with  great  favor, 
and  orders  for  more  were  at  once  received.  From  that  tune 
on  the  industry  has  gradually  grown,  until  to-day  employment 
is  given  to  240  women.  For  several  years  the  industry  was 


360       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

carried  on  with  private  funds  which  we  ourselves  advanced; 
and  no  assistance  has  ever  been  received  from  any  outside 
source.  In  March,  1906,  all  indebtedness  was  paid  and 
the  industry  became  self-supporting,  and  ever  since  then  it 
has  been  well  supported  by  the  sales  of  lace  in  America.  In 
addition  we  have  been  able  to  undertake  some  work,  beside 
that  of  the  direct  work  of  the  industry.  In  1907  three  women 
from  the  Bhimawaram  district  were  sent  to  the  Lace  School 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland  Mission  in  Madras  for  a  number  of 
months  to  learn  better  and  more  advanced  patterns.  Our 
object  in  sending  these  district  women  was,  that  they  might 
afterward  organize  classes  and  teach  in  certain  centres  in  the 
district,  for  our  plan  has  always  been  that  the  advantages  of 
this  industry  should  be  especially  for  our  Christian  village 
women.  As  the  work  progressed  and  the  receipts  increased, 
we  found  that  there  was  money  to  contribute  to  some  other 
object  of  mission  work ;  and  after  consultation  with  the  Lace 
Committee  in  America,  we  offered  Rs.  1000  toward  the  erec- 
tion of  a  new  building  for  the  Bethlehem  Hindu  Girls'  School. 
Our  offer  was  accepted  and  Rs.  1000  were  handed  to  the 
Mission  Treasurer  for  this  object."  This  contribution  was 
made  in  1907.  The  next  year  two  girls,  ten  years  old,  were 
sent  to  Madras  to  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland  Mis- 
sion School,  to  be  trained  to  fill  any  positions  in  which  they 
might  be  needed  in  our  Mission.  "A  number  of  women," 
continued  Mrs.  Harpster,  "have  received  help  from  the 
funds  of  the  industry.  Sometimes  it  has  been  a  lone  widow 
with  no  means  of  support;  and  sometimes  a  widow  with  a 
family  of  children,  whose  monthly  earnings  for  lace-making 
will  not  support  the  family;  sometimes  it  has  been  the  old 
widowed  mother  who  feels  she  is  a  burden  to  those  with  whom 
she  lives.  To  many  aid  has  been  given,  now  and  then  a  rupee 
or  two  or  three.  .  .  .  Forty  boxes  of  lace  have  been  sent  to 
America.  ...  To  the  Lace  Committee  in  America  and, 
especially,  to  its  chairman,  Mrs.  A.  Woll  of  Philadelphia,  is 
largely  due  the  success  of  the  industry.  Without  their  part 
in  the  work  it  could  not  have  been  carried  on."  In  1912, 
the  sum  of  $2175,  and  again  in  1913,  the  sum  of  $2,000.00, 


FREDERICK  W.   SCHAEFER 


OSCAR  V.  WERNER 


THURE  HOLMER  HIRAM  H.   SIPES,  JR. 

MISSIONARIES   IN   INDIA 


REV.   C.   THEODORE   BENZE,   D.  D.  PROF.  CLAUDE  W.  Foss,  Ph.  D. 

COMMISSIONERS  TO  INDIA  IN   1909 


A    GROUP    OF    LACKMAKKKS 


BUILDING   IX    RAJAHMUXDRY    RENTED   FOR   USE   AS    A    MISSION 
DISPENSARY 

Dr.   Betty   A.   Nilsson   is  standing  in   front   of   the   Dispensary   with  a  group  of 

her    patients. 


MANIFOLD    ACTIVITY    (1906-09)  361 

profits  of  the  industry,  were  contributed  for  the  purchase 
of  sites  for  the  Bethlehem,  Mangalavarampetta  and  Laksh- 
mivarampetta  Hindu  Girls'  Schools.  The  industry  is  now 
under  the  supervision  of  Mrs.  E.  Neudoerffer.  It  should  be 
a  pleasure,  as  it  doubtless  is,  to  the  patrons  of  the  industry 
at  home,  to  know  that  they  are  helping  to  raise  the  Christian 
women  socially,  morally  and  religiously;  socially,  because 
poverty  is  the  great  problem  in  India  among  the  non-property 
possessing  classes  to  which  our  Christians  belong;  morally, 
because  a  good  deal  of  truth  and  character-building  are  in- 
volved in  earnest  and  honest  lace-making;  and  religiously, 
because  it  teaches  cleanliness,  self-help  and  self-reliance,  and 
affords  constant  opportunity  to  speak  to  the  women  about 
all  manner  of  spiritual  subjects,  especially  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments. . 

Another  project  which  Mrs.  Harpster  inaugurated  is  the 
sale  of  India  Pictorial  Post  Cards  for  the  benefit  of  the  Book 
Store  in  Rajahmundry,  which  also  was  under  her  supervision. 
Several  sets  of  twelve  views  of  our  mission  field  and  mission 
work  were  made  in  India,  sent  to  America  and  sold  for  fifty 
cents  a  set.  Mrs.  William  P.  M.  Braun  has  attended  to  the 
sale  of  these  cards. 

For  many  years  Women's  Missionary  and  Young  People's 
Societies  throughout  the  Church  sent  a  number  of  boxes 
each  year  to  India  containing  clothing,  toys,  food,  etc.,  which 
were  either  used  by  the  missionaries  or  distributed  by  them 
to  school-children  and  Christians  as  Christmas  presents.  At 
a  meeting  of  the  Mission  Council  in  India,  held  December 
30,  1907,  it  was  unanimously  resolved,  "that  in  view  of  the 
effect  upon  our  native  Christians  of  the  gifts  of  clothing,  etc., 
which  have  been  sent  so  liberally  each  year  from  the  Home- 
Church  in  the  so-called  'Christmas  boxes,'  we,  as  a  Mission 
Council,  respectfully  ask  that  our  kind  donors  present  their 
gifts  in  money  to  the  Foreign  Mission  treasury,  and  that  this 
arrangement  begin,  if  possible,  with  the  year  1908."  Never- 
theless, material  which  could  be  used  in  the  lace  industry, 
and  articles  which  were  of  use  in  the  Hospital  and  medical 
work,  were  solicited  and  sent  through  Miss  Mary  Miller  of 


362       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE     GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Philadelphia,  the  chairman  of  the  India  Box  Committee  of  the 
Women's  Missionary  Society  of  the  General  Council.1 

Several  protests  and  petitions  from  individual  missionaries, 
sent  directly  to  the  President  of  the  General  Council,  were 
by  him  presented  in  his  report  to  the  General  Council  at 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  in  1907,  and  then  submitted  to  a  special 
committee  whose  report,  as  amended  and  finally  adopted, 
was,  in  part,  as  follows: 

"i.  That  the  General  Council  direct  its  Foreign  Mission 
Board,  after  consultation  with  the  Mission  Council  in  India, 
at  once  to  revise  its  present  Rules,  especially  in  the  direction 
of  giving  the  missionaries  and  the  Mission  Council  better 
facilities  to  communicate  with  the  Board,  and  leaving  the 
matter  of  local  government,  as  much  as  feasible,  in  the  hands 
of  the  Mission  Council. 

"2.  That  two  practical,  well-qualified  men,  one  of  whom 
shall  be  a  layman,  be  sent  out  as  soon  as  possible,  as  a  Com- 
mission of  Inspection,  to  visit  the  field,  and  to  report  to  the 
Board  and  through  it  to  the  General  Council  at  its  next  con- 
vention. These  men  shall  be  of  different  synods  and  shall 
be  selected  by  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  President  of  the  General  Council;  but  neither 
of  these  commissioners  shall  be  a  member  of  the  said  Board." 

Both  of  these  items  of  instruction  were  carried  out. 

In  the  place  of  the  Rev.  William  Ashmead  Schaeffer,  D.  D., 
deceased,  the  General  Council,  in  1907,  elected  the  Rev. 
Lars  G.  Abrahamson,  D.  D.,  and  in  the  stead  of  the  Rev. 
Andrew  S.  Fichthorn,  D.  D.,  the  Rev.  William  E.  Frey, 
re-electing  all  others  whose  terms  had  expired.  The  Rev. 
Prof.  Henry  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  who  had  served  as  President 
of  the  Board  since  October,  1901,  declined  a  re-election,  when 
the  Board  was  reorganized  in  October,  1907,  and  the  Rev. 
Edward  T.  Horn,  D.  D.,  was  elected  to  succeed  him.  Mr. 
Philip  S.  Zieber  resigned  as  Treasurer  of  the  Board  in  Novem- 
ber, 1908,  having  served  since  November,  1901,  and  Mr.  James 

1  The  Mission  Council  in  India  in  October,  1913,  again  requested  that  the 
sending  of  Christmas  boxes  be  discontinued  and  that,  instead  of  clothing, 
sheets  and  pillow  cases,  contributions  of  money  should  be  solicited  and  sent 
by  the  Board. 


MANIFOLD    ACTIVITY    (1906-09)  363 

M.  Snyder  was  elected  his  successor.  The  duties  of  English 
Recording  and  Corresponding  Secretary  were  entrusted  to  the 
General  Secretary,  the  Rev.  George  Drach. 

In  1907  the  third  medical  missionary,  Dr.  Amy  B.  Rohrer, 
was  sent  to  India.  Amy  Belle  Rohrer,  daughter  of  Israel  B. 
and  Anna  Elizabeth  Rohrer,  was  born  near  Eden,  Lancaster 
County,  Pa.  She  attended  the  public  school  at  Eden  until 
she  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  then  became  a  student  in  the 
State  Normal  School  at  Millersville,  Pa.  In  September,  1895, 
she  was  baptized  and  confirmed  in  Zion's  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church  at  Leacock,  Pa.  Three  years  later,  on  removing 
with  her  parents  to  Lancaster,  Pa.,  she  united  with  Grace 
Lutheran  Church  of  that  city.  From  April,  1900,  to  October, 
1901,  she  lived  at  the  Mary  J.  Drexel  Home  and  Motherhouse 
of  Deaconesses,  Philadelphia.  After  nursing  for  several 
months  in  the  Ladd  Hospital,  Carlisle,  Pa.,  she  accepted  the 
position  of  an  assistant  in  the  Lutheran  Orphans'  Home, 
Germantown,  Philadelphia,  remaining  in  this  position  from 
March,  1902,  to  June,  1903.  In  the  fall  of  1903,  she  entered 
the  Woman's  Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  to  prepare  for 
work  as  a  medical  missionary  in  India.  She  was  supported  as 
a  medical  student  by  the  Women's  Home  and  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium.  She  was 
graduated  in  1907,  later  took  the  Massachusetts  State  Medical 
Board  examination  and,  having  accepted  the  call  of  the  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions,  was  commissioned  by  the  President  of 
the  Board  on  December  3,  1907,  in  Grace  Church,  Lancaster, 
Pa.  In  the  company  of  Dr.  Woerner  she  sailed  from  New 
York  on  December  10,  1907,  and  arrived  at  Rajahmundry  on 
January  28,  1908. 

September  26,  1907,  the  Rev.  C.  F.  Kuder  was  again  called 
to  go  to  India  and,  having  accepted  the  call,  was  commis- 
sioned by  the  General  Secretary  of  the  Board  on  December  29, 

1907,  in  Trinity  Lutheran  Church,  Lehighton,  Pa.,  served 
by  his  brother,  the  Rev.  John  H.  Kuder.    Leaving  his  family 
behind  in  Salem,  Va.,  he  sailed  from  New  York  on  January  i, 

1908,  and    reached    Rajahmundry    twenty-six    days    later. 
The  Board  agreed  to  allow  him  to  return  after  five  years  of 


364   THE  TELUGU  MISSION  OF  THE  GENERAL  COUNCIL 

service,  should  circumstances  in  his  family  demand  it.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  at  Rajahmundry  he  took  charge  of  the  Boys' 
Central  School,  Wackernagel  having  resigned  in  November, 
1907.  Three  months  later  Wackernagel  returned  to  the 
United  States,  accompanied  by  Trafford. 

Miss  Susan  E.  Monroe  left  on  furlough,  accompanied  by 
Miss  Hedwig  Wahlberg,  in  April,  1908.  Miss  Wahlberg 
remained  for  a  while  in  Sweden  ,  recuperating  from  an  illness 
contracted  in  India,  and  in  November,  1908,  wrote  from 
Sweden,  resigning  as  a  missionary  under  the  Board.  The 
Board  accepted  her  resignation  to  take  effect  on  April  i,  1909, 
and  paid  her  expenses  to  the  United  States.  Miss  Monroe 
reached  Philadelphia  on  July  7,  1908.  She  spent  some  of  her 
time  on  furlough  delivering  addresses  and  toward  its  expira- 
tion again  offered  to  return  to  the  Mission  on  the  same 
terms  as  before,  namely,  at  her  own  expense  but  subject 
to  the  Rules  of  the  Mission.  The  Board  most  gratefully 
accepted  her  offer,  and  after  her  return  to  Rajahmundry  in 
December,  1909,  she  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  zenana 
work,  which  Miss  Schade  had  managed  after  the  death  of 
Miss  Swenson. 

After  a  serious  epidemic  of  cholera  in  the  Girls'  Central 
School,  in  the  fall  of  1906,  during  which  five  pupils  died  of 
this  dread  disease,  the  school  was  closed  for  several  weeks. 
Miss  Schade  then  planned  a  separate  Epidemic  Ward  to  the 
School,  which  was  begun  in  1908  and  finished  in  1912,  the 
First  General  Council  Mission  League  of  Monaca,  Pa., 
assisted  by  other  leagues  of  the  Pittsburgh  Synod,  furnishing 
the  sum  of  $600  for  this  purpose. 

In  1908  two  woman  missionaries  were  added  to  the  force 
in  India. 

Sigrid  A.  Esberhn,  daughter  of  Bud  Petersen  Esberhn  and 
his  wife  Sigrid  Anna,  was  born  in  Koebenhavn,  Denmark.  She 
received  her  education  in  Copenhagen.  With  her  parents  she 
emigrated  to  the  United  States  and  settled  in  Chicago.  She 
was  called  by  the  Board  in  May,  1908. 

Betty  A.  Nilsson  of  Rockford,  111.,  received  her  medical 
education  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  Uni- 


MANIFOLD    ACTIVITY    (1906-09)  365 

versity  of  Illinois,  where  she  was  supported  by  the  Women's 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Augustana  Synod.  After  her 
graduation  in  June,  1907,  she  served  for  a  year  as  interne  in 
the  Cook  County  Hospital,  Illinois. 

Both  of  these  young  ladies  were  commissioned  by  the 
President  of  the  Board,  the  Rev.  Edward  T.  Horn,  D.  D., 
on  October  15,  1908,  in  the  Immanuel  Swedish  Lutheran 
Church,  Chicago.  On  their  way  to  New  York  they  stopped 
in  Philadelphia  for  a  farewell  service  on  Sunday  evening, 
October  i8th,  in  St.  Mark's  English  Lutheran  Church  of 
that  city.  They  left  New  York  several  days  later,  and 
after  spending  a  few  weeks  in  Europe  they  proceeded  on 
their  journey  to  India,  reaching  Rajahmundry  December  9, 
1908. 

After  Wolters  had  passed  his  second  examination  in  Telugu, 
in  1907,  he  was  assigned  to  take  charge  of  the  Korukonda 
district  with  residence  at  Rajahmundry.  Shortly  thereafter 
he  was  seriously  ill  with  typhoid  fever,  but  recovered,  and 
took  a  voyage  to  China  to  recuperate  and  visit  his  sister,  the 
wife  of  a  merchant  in  that  country.  In  1909,  after  the  de- 
parture of  Dr.  Harpster  and  Rev.  E.  Neudoerffer's  transfer 
to  the  Bhimawaram  district,  Wolters  became  the  missionary 
in  charge  of  the  Tadepalligudem  district.  Larson,  in  1908, 
moved  to  Tallapudi  and  took  charge  of  that  district.  At  the 
same  time  Eckardt,  living  at  Rajahmundry,  became  the  mis- 
sionary in  charge  of  the  Jaggampetta  district  and  extended 
his  work  into  the  Korukonda  district. 

The  Boys'  Central  School  buildings  at  Luthergiri,1  just  out- 
side of  Rajahmundry,  which  had  been  begun  in  January, 
1905,  were  finally  finished  in  May,  1908,  but  the  school 
was  removed  from  the  old  building  to  its  new  quarters  in 
February,  1908.  The  new  buildings,  consisting  of  a  main 
school  building,  a  dormitory  and  a  residence  for  the  missionary 
in  charge,  occupy  an  elevated  site,  giving  a  commanding  view 
of  the  Godavery  River,  and  can  be  seen  for  miles.  The 
main  building  has  a  frontage  of  100  feet  facing  the  river.  It 
is  flanked  at  either  end  by  a  massive  tower.  The  lower  story 

luGiri"  is  a  Telugu  word  signifying  hill. 


366       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

is  divided  into  class  rooms,  while  the  upper  story  is  devoted 
to  the  purposes  of  a  chapel  and  assembly  room.  The  Hostel 
or  Dormitory  furnishes  accommodations  for  150  boarders. 
It  is  a  one-story  structure,  built  in  the  form  of  a  quadrangle. 
The  outer  wall  is  solid  with  no  break  in  it  except  for  the  small, 
barred  apertures  near  the  top  for  purposes  of  ventilation. 
All  the  sleeping  rooms,  living  rooms,  bath  rooms,  granaries, 
cook  rooms,  storerooms,  hospital  rooms,  etc.,  open  into  the 
inner  quadrangle.  The  cost  of  the  buildings  was  as 
follows : 

Main  Building Rs.  22,600  $  7,533-34 

Dormitory 17,700  5,900.00 

Bungalow 13,94°  4,646.66 

Out-houses 825  275.000 

Total Rs.  55,065        $18,355.00 

At  the  close  of  the  first  year  in  the  new  buildings  Kuder 
wrote:  "Our  plant  is  quite  new  and  is  located  on  a  plot  of 
ground  containing  forty  acres,  lying  on  a  gentle  eminence 
about  a  mile  north  of  Rajahmundry.  Probably  few  mis- 
sions in  the  Madras  Presidency  have  anything  superior. 
This  institution  is  meant  to  be  the  power-house  of  the  Mis- 
sion. Its  agents,  or,  at  least,  its  male  agents  receive  their 
training  for  future  usefulness  here.  The  school  ranks,  at 
present,  as  an  Incomplete  Secondary,  the  highest  form  being 
the  third;  but  we  have  higher  aspirations.  As  is  cus- 
tomary in  institutions  of  this  kind,  there  are  taught,  besides 
the  usual  branches  of  secular  knowledge,  also  religious  sub- 
jects, according  to  a  curriculum  that  is  the  outgrowth  of  a 
moderately  long  experience.  By  the  time  a  boy  entering 
the  third  standard — our  lowest  class — passes  out  of  the  third 
form,  he  will  have  gone  through  two  explanations  of  the 
Small  Catechism  (Loehe's  and  Stump's,  supplemented  from 
Nissen),  and  also  twice  through  Bible  History,  from  specially 
prepared  text-books,  in  the  standards,  and  from  the  Bible 
itself,  following  Buchrucker,  in  the  forms,  together  with  the 
introduction  to  each  book  in  the  Sacred  Volume,  as  it  is 
taken  up.  It  is  primarily  the  aim  of  the  educational  work  of 


DORMITORIES  OF  THE  BOYS'  CENTRAL  SCHOOL,  LUTHERGIRI, 
RAJAHMUNDRY 


THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  FOR  BOYS  AT  PEDDAPUR 


MARY    WELDEN 


LAVRA   V".    KECK 


EMMA    A.    ENDLICH 


MRS.    SAMUEL  LAIRD 


MRS.   CHARLES   L.    FRY 


MRS.   EMMY   EVALD 


WOMEN  OF  THE  GENERAL  (HH'NCIL  WHO  HAVE   I'.EEX  PROMINENT  IN 
THE   WORK   OF   MISSIONS 


MANIFOLD    ACTIVITY    (1906-09)  367 

the  Mission,  at  present,  to  prepare  a  body  of  teachers  possess- 
ing a  fair  general  education,  a  good  knowledge  of  Christian 
truth,  and  normal  training.  No  excursions  into  theological 
lore  are  as  yet  being  attempted.  The  course  mapped  out 
contemplates  special  instruction  in  religious  subjects  for  a 
year  or  two  after  students  have  passed  out  of  the  third  form; 
and  that  is  to  be  followed  by  a  course  in  normal  training, 
prescribed  by  the  Educational  Department  of  the  Presidency. 
We  have  not  been  able  as  yet  to  add  the  year  or  two  for 
religious  instruction  exclusively,  but  we  did  succeed  in  estab- 
lishing a  normal  training-school  in  the  beginning  of  the  year, 
of  which  not  only  our  own  youths  but  also  a  respectable 
number  of  the  teachers  in  the  Mission,  as  well  as  some  out- 
siders, have  availed  themselves." 

After  the  Boys'  Central  School  had  been  removed  to 
Luthergiri,  the  High  School  Department  was  discontinued 
by  order  of  the  Board,  and  a  Normal  School,  called  the 
Training  School  for  Masters,  was  established.  Twenty-one 
normal  pupils  were  enrolled  during  the  first  year  of  its  history, 
eight  in  the  Higher  elementary  class  and  thirteen  in  the  Junior 
elementary  lower  class.  Kuder  succeeded  in  getting  a  govern- 
ment grant,  in  1909,  for  the  Normal  School,  amounting  to  Rs. 
1288,  in  addition  to  Rs.  1800  for  the  Boys'  Central  School. 
During  the  second  year  55  pupils  were  enrolled  in  the  Normal 
School  and  nearly  Rs.  4000  were  received  in  grants  from  the 
government. 

The  Boys'  High  School  at  Peddapur  was  continued  under 
the  direction  of  the  missionary  of  the  Samulkot  district, 
Isaacson,  and,  in  1911—12,  a  new  building  was  erected,  cost- 
ing over  $14,000,  one-fourth  of  which  was  given  by  the  govern- 
ment as  a  building  grant.  The  corner-stone  of  the  new  build- 
ing was  laid  with  impressive  ceremonies  on  November  25, 
1911,  and  the  completed  building  was  opened  and  dedicated 
on  October  29,  1912. 

In  order  to  carry  out  the  instructions  of  the  General  Council 
the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  selected  Prof.  C.  W.  Foss, 
Ph.  D.,  of  Augustana  College,  Rock  Island,  111.,  and  the 
Rev.  C.  Theodore  Benze,  D.  D.,  then  pastor  of  St.  Stephen's 


368       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  Erie,  Pa.,  and  President  of 
the  Pittsburgh  Synod,  afterward  President  of  Thiel  College, 
as  the  Commissioners  of  Inspection,  the  President  of  the 
General  Council  having  sanctioned  these  selections.  The 
Commissioners  were  given  a  letter  of  instruction  by  the 
Board  to  define  their  duties  and  work  in  India,  and  after 
having  met  in  Colombo,  Ceylon,  on  December  8th,  and  arrived 
at  Rajahmundry  on  December  28,  1908,  they  spent  six  weeks 
in  the  Mission,  finished  their  work  of  inspection  and  returned 
to  the  United  States.  They  submitted  a  carefully  prepared 
report  to  the  Board  covering  every  district  and  department 
of  the  Mission,  making  a  number  of  recommendations  con- 
cerning the  government  of  the  Mission,  urging  an  increase  of 
missionaries  and  funds  as  imperative  for  the  proper  develop- 
ment of  the  work,  and  concluding  with  the  following  para- 
graph: 

" Notwithstanding  human  frailties  and  error  and  the 
insufficient  supply  of  laborers  and  means,  the  Lord  has  sig- 
nally blessed  and  prospered  our  Mission,  and  thereby  indi- 
cated that  the  work  is  His  and  not  of  men.  There  is  much 
that  is  successful  and  much  that  is  encouraging,  and  from  this 
point  of  view  the  outlook  for  the  future  is  bright.  Let  the 
Church  give  thanks  to  her  Redeemer  for  thus  prospering  her 
feeble  efforts,  and  awaken  to  a  great  sense  of  her  respon- 
sibility and  duty." 

The  expenses  connected  with  the  sending  out  of  this  com- 
mission amounted  to  $2466,  but  the  money  was  well  spent,  for 
the  report  of  the  Commission  set  the  mind  of  the  Church  at 
rest,  created  new  confidence  in  the  Board  and  in  the  mission- 
aries, and  won  a  more  hearty  support  for  the  cause  of  foreign 
missions.  This  attitude  of  the  Church  was  indicated,  more- 
over, by  the  election  of  the  commissioners  as  members  of  the 
Board  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  General  Council. 

The  service  of  the  Rev.  E.  E.  Sibole,  D.  D.,  who  had  been 
a  member  of  the  Board  for  nearly  twenty-five  years  and  the 
editor  of  "The  Foreign  Missionary"  for  twelve  years,  ceased 
with  the  convention  of  the  General  Council  in  1909.  The 

'General  Council  Minutes,  1909,  pages  160-169. 


MANIFOLD   ACTIVITY    (1906-09)  369 

Board  adopted  a  minute,  expressing  its  high  appreciation  of 
his  long  and  faithful  service.1 

The  Rules  and  Regulations  of  the  Telugu  Mission,  as  revised 
by  the  Mission  Council  in  India  in  1908,  and  endorsed  by  the 
Commissioners,  slightly  amended  by  the  Board,  were  adopted 
in  1909,  and  the  Mission  is  now  being  administered  under 
these  Rules.2  They  provide  for  the  government  of  the  Mission 
by  a  Mission  Council,  consisting  of  all  missionaries  in  charge 
of  work  in  the  Mission,  and  by  a  Ministerium  of  the  ordained 
missionaries,  to  which  the  affairs  of  the  district  evangelistic 
work  are  referred. 

1  At  its  meeting  in  1909  the  General  Council  elected  the  Revs.  M.  C.  Ranseen, 
D.  D.,  and  S.  C.  Franzen,  the  latter  in  the  place  of  the  Rev.  C.  E.  Slaett,  re- 
signed; and  retired  Samuel  G.  Seiple,  M.  D.,  and  R.  A.  Rydberg,  Ph.  D.,  who 
had  served  faithfully  since  1001  and  1903,  respectively.     Dr.  Seiple,  however 
has  continued  to  be  the  Medical  Adviser  of  the  Board. 

2  See  General  Council  Minutes,  1909,  pages  137-153. 

24 


CHAPTER  XIX 

RECENT  DEVELOPMENT   (1909-12) 

DR.  and  Mrs.  Harpster  left  Rajahmundry  on  furlough, 
April  7,  1909,  and  after  having  visited  the  Rev.  Frisby  D. 
Smith  in  Tokyo,  Japan,  they  crossed  the  Pacific  Ocean,  land- 
ing at  San  Francisco,  and  reaching  Redlands,  Cal.,  in  June, 
1909,  where  they  were  entertained  by  a  friend  until  they  came 
East  to  attend  the  convention  of  the  General  Council  in 
Minneapolis  that  fall.  Thereafter  Dr.  Harpster  travelled  and 
delivered  addresses  in  the  interest  of  the  General  Council's 
Telugu  Mission.  He  was  an  exceptionally  able  speaker  and 
his  presentations  won  the  interest  of  a  large  circle  of  sup- 
porters. While  on  a  tour  of  the  churches  in  Ohio,  in  January, 
1911,  he  contracted  a  severe  cold  and  hastened  back  to  his  wife 
who  was  visiting  her  brother,  the  Rev.  Henry  E.  Jacobs.  D.  D., 
at  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia.  There  he  died  on  February  i,  1911, 
after  a  brief  illness.  The  funeral  service  was  held  in  the 
Schaeffer-Ashmead  Memorial  Church,  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia, 
on  February  3,  the  General  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  of  the  General  Synod,  the  Rev.  L.  B.  Wolf,  D.  D., 
and  the  General  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
of  the  General  Council,  the  Rev.  George  Drach,  delivering 
the  addresses.  The  service  was  conducted  by  the  Rev.  Prof. 
J.  Fry,  D.D.,  and  the  Rev.  A.  S.  Fichthorn,  D.  D.  His 
body  was  interred  in  the  cemetery  at  Gettysburg,  Pa. 

The  following  is  a  brief  sketch  of  his  life  up  to  the  time  of 
his  becoming  a  missionary  of  the  General  Council. 

John  Henry  Harpster,  the  son  of  George  and  Frances 
Harpster,  was  born  at  Centre  Hall,  Pa.,  April  27,  1844. 
His  education  was  interrupted  by  the  Civil  War,  through 
which  he  served.  He  was  captain  and  staff  officer  of  the 
Second  Corps,  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  twice  was  danger- 
ously wounded  in  battle.  After  the  war  he  resumed  his 

37° 


RECENT   DEVELOPMENT    (1909-12)  371 

studies  at  Selinsgrove  and  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  preparing  for  the 
holy  ministry.  He  was  ordained  in  1871,  and  went  at  once 
as  a  foreign  missionary  of  the  General  Synod  to  its  Telugu 
Mission  in  India,  in  which  he  served  until  1876.  Impaired 
health  led  to  his  return  to  the  United  States,  and  he  served 
congregations  in  Ellsworth  and  Hayes  City,  Kan.,  Trenton, 
N.  J.,  and  Canton,  O.  He  married  Julia,  daughter  of  Pro- 
fessor Michael  Jacobs,  of  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  in  1882.  In  1893 
he  returned  with  his  wife  to  India  and  served  as  a  missionary 
in  the  Guntur  and  Sattenappalli  Taluks  of  the  General 
Synod's  Mission  until  1901,  when  he  came  home  on  furlough. 
The  next  year  he  entered  the  service  of  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  of  the  General  Council.1 

1  The  following  resolutions  were  passed  by  the  Board  at  its  meeting  in  March, 
1911: 

Whereas  God  in  his  Providence  removed  by  death  on  the  first  day  of  February, 
1911,  at  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia,  Reverend  John  Henry  Harpster,  D.  D.,  our 
missionary  on  furlough  in  America,  and 

Whereas  Reverend  John  Henry  Harpster,  D.  D.,  one  of  the  great  foreign 
missionaries  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America,  began  his  career  as  a  foreign 
missionary  in  1872,  when  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  General  Synod 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  the  United  States  sent  him  to  its  Telugu 
Mission  at  Guntur,  India,  where  he  labored  until  1876,  returning  to  this  Mission, 
after  having  served  congregations  in  the  United  States,  in  1893,  for  a  second 
term  lasting  eight  years,  and  then  at  the  urgent  call  of  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  of  the  General  Council  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  North 
America,  went  to  its  Telugu  Mission  at  Rajahmundry,  India,  in  1902,  with  the 
special  titles  and  commission  of  "Temporary  Director"  and  Chairman  of  the 
Executive  Committee,  then  the  highest  office  in  the  Mission,  to  re-organize  it 
under  new  rules  and  regulations,  and  having  fulfilled  his  mission  and  resigned 
his  special  office  and  position,  returned  to  America  in  1909,  where  he  was  spend- 
ing his  furlough  in  the  service  of  our  Board  which  had  called  him  to  return  to 
Rajahmundry  as  a  regular  missionary,  and 

Whereas,  while  he  served  our  Board  in  its  India  Mission,  he  labored  faith- 
fully and  well,  erected  new  and  adequate  buildings  for  the  Boys'  Central  School 
at  Rajahmundry,  extricated  our  mission  property  from  the  confusion  of  un- 
certain titles,  improved  the  mission  plant,  and  won  many  converts  to  Christian- 
ity, and 

Whereas,  while  on  furlough  in  America,  in  1909-1910,  he  attracted  the 
interest  of  many  by  his  addresses  and  efforts,  spread  information,  deepened 
the  sense  of  our  foreign  mission  obligation,  and  won  the  prayers  and  consecra- 
tion of  those  who  learned  to  know  him;  Be  it 

Resolved,  that  we,  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  General  Council, 
express  our  high  appreciation  of  his  long  and  successful  career  as  a  foreign 
missionary  in  India,  and  especially  of  his  service,  both  in  our  Telugu  Mission 
and  at  home  in  our  churches,  and  our  sense  of  the  great  loss  we  have  sustained 
in  his  death,  and 

Resolved,  that  we  express  our  deep  sympathy  to  his  widow  whom  we  com- 
mend to  the  tender  love  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  through  Jesus  Christ,  His 
Son,  Our  Lord. 


372       THE    TELUGU   MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

After  his  removal  from  Rajahmundry  Dr.  Schmidt  had  lived 
in  retirement  at  Kotagiri,  Nilgiri  Hills,  India,  where  he  died 
on  March  6,  1911,  about  a  month  after  Dr.  Harpster's  death. 
His  body  was  interred  in  the  Basle  Mission  cemetery  at 
Kotagiri. 

The  Mission  Council  in  India  adopted  the  following  minute 
of  appreciation : 

"Three  men  in  the  history  of  the  Rajahmundry  Mission 
have,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Church,  stood  out  among  their  fel- 
lows. Of  these,  the  first,  Dr.  C.  F.  Heyer,  has  long  since  been 
gathered  to  his  fathers  and  his  works  do  follow  him. 

"The  second  was  the  Rev.  Hans  Christian  Schmidt,  D.  D., 
who  departed  this  life  on  March  6,  1911.  Others  in  other 
places  have  given  the  salient  facts  of  his  life.  Our  endeavor 
shall  be  to  fix  the  place  of  Dr.  Schmidt  in  this  Mission  and  the 
value  of  his  services  to  it.  He  came  first  to  Rajahmundry  on 
August  4,  1870,  when  the  only  missionary  to  greet  him  was 
Father  Heyer.  Six  months  later  Father  Heyer,  under  the 
weight  of  many  years,  left  the  country  never  to  return. 
The  strength  of  the  Mission  then  was  241  adult  Christians 
living  in  nine  villages,  and  nine  teachers.  The  buildings  were 
dilapidated  and  the  Mission  had  but  a  slender  hold  on  the  in- 
terest and  support  of  the  Church  at  home.  It  was  the  most 
critical  time  in  the  entire  history  of  the  Mission,  and  during  the 
first  decennium  a  living  martyrdom  for  its  missionaries.  But 
in  spite  of  every  discouragement  Dr.  Schmidt  and  his  col- 
league remained  at  their  posts  of  duty;  and  God  mightily 
blessed  their  slender  means,  so  that  before  the  close  of  the 
decade  another  bungalow,  a  church  and  a  house-boat  had 
been  added  to  the  material  equipment  of  the  Mission,  and  the 
number  of  adherents  had  been  more  than  doubled.  It  seems 
to  us,  that  it  was  in  this  period  that  Dr.  Schmidt  rendered 
the  most  valuable  service  in  his  life.  The  temptation  to  leave 
the  work  amidst  so  much  discouragement  and  apathy  on  the 
part  of  the  Church  that  had  inaugurated  it  can  scarcely  have 
been  wanting;  and  had  he  left,  the  probability  is  very  strong 
that  the  work  would  have  been  permanently  abandoned  and 
the  foreign  mission  activity  of  the  General  Council  diverted  to 


RECENT   DEVELOPMENT    (1909-12)  373 

some  other  field.  The  credit  of  being  the  real  founder  or,  at 
least,  savior  of  the  mission,  belongs  far  more  truly  to  him  than 
to  Father  Heyer.  The  latter  was  a  bird  of  passage;  the  former 
came  to  stay  and  give  permanence  to  the  work. 

"In  the  eighties  reinforcements  began  to  come,  and  with 
their  advent  interest  in  the  work  grew  at  home.  The  path, 
therefore,  became  easier;  but  the  economy  and  the  careful 
expenditure  Dr.  Schmidt  had  been  forced  to  practice  in  the 
first  decade  of  his  service  adhered  to  him  always.  He  was  a 
wise  buyer,  a  cheap  builder,  a  shrewd  manager;  and  much  of 
the  excellent  property  now  owned  by  the  Mission  is  the  fruit 
of  his  foresight.  As  a  fellow-missionary  he  was  genial  and 
easy  to  get  along  with.  His  long  experience  with  new  mis- 
sionaries, all  of  whom  for  a  period  of  thirty  years  he  was  here 
to  welcome,  made  him  patient  and  sympathetic  with  them. 
He  was  quick  to  recognize  merit  and  rejoiced  in  it  for  the  sake 
of  the  Mission.  His  judgment  was  safe  and  his  tenacity  of 
purpose  great.  Connected  for  so  many  years  with  the  Mission, 
there  is  scarcely  a  phase  of  its  work  to-day  that  does  not,  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  bear  his  impress.  After  his  withdrawal 
from  the  Mission  he  lived  in  dignified  and  contented  retire- 
ment, dividing  his  time  between  his  home  on  the  hills  and 
that  of  his  daughter  in  the  Breklum  Mission.  His  failing 
health  was  quite  obvious  to  his  many  friends  throughout  the 
last  year  of  his  life,  and  the  end  was  quiet  and  peaceful. 

"The  third  of  the  three  was  the  Rev.  John  Henry  Harpster, 
D.  D.,  whose  connection  with  this  Mission  dated  from  1902. 
That  was  a  time  of  great  difficulty,  and  the  task  set  him  was 
one  of  unusual  responsibility,  involving  transfer  and  reor- 
ganization. Friction  seemed  inevitable.  Frequently  he  had 
to  shape  his  course  to  fit  rules  for  which  he  had  not  been 
responsible;  and  the  wonder  is,  that  with  such  burdens  on  his 
shoulders,  he  succeeded  as  well  as  he  did.  Ninety-nine  other 
men  in  a  hundred  would  have  failed  utterly.  Had  his  dis- 
position been  less  generous,  his  spirit  less  sanguine,  his  patience 
less  lasting,  he  would  have  left  the  field  in  confusion  worse 
confounded,  instead  of  on  the  highroad  to  harmonious  co- 
operation and  general  good-will.  Arguments  there  were,  to 


374       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

be  sure,  but  through  them  all  strongly  pulsed  the  beat  of  a 
courteous  man's  warm  friendship.  As  a  missionary  he  was 
indefatigable,  as  a  preacher  eloquent  and  inspiring.  He 
labored  in  season  and  out  to  inculcate  self-support.  Alto- 
gether this  was  a  man  to  love.  He  left  the  work,  worn  out  by 
his  many  burdens;  and  when  the  news  of  his  passing  came, 
there  was  not  a  heart  in  the  Mission  that  was  not  the  sadder 
for  it." 

Miss  Agnes  I.  Schade  came  to  the  United  States  on  fur- 
lough in  1909,  leaving  Rajahmundry  June  26th,  and  arriving 
at  New  York  on  August  3d,  that  year.  On  account  of  an 
affliction  of  the  eyes  she  was  under  treatment  in  Philadelphia 
for  some  time  and  was  unable  to  do  much  travelling.  Never- 
theless, she  found  opportunity  before  the  expiration  of  her 
furlough  to  help  the  cause  at  home  by  a  number  of  addresses 
at  different  places.  Before  the  close  of  the  year  1910  she 
had  returned  to  her  work  at  Rajahmundry  as  the  manager  of 
the  Girls'  Central  School.  During  her  absence  Dr.  Amy 
B.  Rohrer  served  temporarily  as  manager  of  the  school. 

Furloughs  were  given  E.  Neudoerffer  in  1910-1911,  R. 
Arps  in  1911-1912,  and  H.  E.  Isaacson  in  1912-1913.  Neu- 
doerffer, with  his  wife  and  child,  came  to  America  by  way  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean  and  spent  the  most  of  his  time  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada  delivering  sermons  and  addresses,  especially 
to  German  and  German-English  congregations,  in  order  to 
arouse  them  to  greater  effort  in  behalf  of  foreign  missions. 
He  also  succeeded  in  interesting  a  number  of  young  pastors 
to  such  an  extent  that  two  recruits  were  secured  and  sent 
out  with  him  to  India,  the  Revs.  Oscar  V.  Werner  and  F.  W. 
Schaefer;  and  his  younger  brother,  August,  followed  him  a 
few  months  later.  Arps  spent  a  year  in  Luebeck,  Germany, 
with  his  son  and  daughter,  who  were  being  educated  there, 
before  coming  to  America  in  May,  1912,  with  his  wife  and 
daughter. 

Among  the  more  recent  events  of  importance  in  the  Mis- 
sion have  been  the  erection  of  the  Augustana  Church  at 
Samulkot,  the  gift  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of 
Augustana  College  and  Seminary,  Rock  Island,  111.,  which 


RECENT    DEVELOPMENT    (1909-12)  375 

was  consecrated  on  January  15,  1911,  while  the  Conference  of 
missionaries  and  native  workers  was  in  session  at  Samulkot. 
The  building  cost  $2700. 

The  same  day  that  this  new  church  was  consecrated  the 
sixth  native  Christian  pastor,  Pantagani  Paradesi,  was  or- 
dained by  the  officers  of  the  Ministerium  in  India,  the  Rev. 
H.  E.  Isaacson,  D.  D.,1  and  the  Rev.  Karl  L.  Wolters. 

Pantagani  Paradesi  was  born  at  Mahadevipatnam,  Bhima- 
waram  taluk.  He  attended  the  Boys'  Central  School  at  Rajah- 
mundry,  from  which  he  was  graduated,  and  then  went  to  the 
Mission  College  at  Guntur.  After  having  served  for  a  while 
as  teacher  in  the  Girls'  Central  School,  he  was  added  to  the 
staff  of  teachers  in  the  Boys'  Central  School,  where  he  was 
at  work  when  the  call  came  to  become  the  pastor  of  St. 
Paul's  Church,  Rajahmundry.  He  was  installed  as  the  native 
pastor  of  the  congregation  in  Rajahmundry,  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  missionary  in  charge,  on  Sunday,  February  5, 
1911,  by  the  Rev.  C.  F.  Kuder,  assisted  by  the  Rev.  R.  Arps. 
Under  the  direction  of  Kuder  the  congregation  became  self- 
supporting  and  agreed  to  pay  its  pastor's  salary.2  Self- 
government,  also,  was  introduced  under  a  panchayet  or 
council,  consisting  of  the  missionary  in  charge,  the  native 
pastor  and  five  members  of  the  native  congregation.  The 
membership  of  the  congregation  at  the  close  of  1910  was 
356,  exclusive  of  boarding-school  children  and  teachers  at- 
tending the  Training  School. 

Before  Kuder  returned  to  the  United  States  in  April, 
1913,  he  nearly  finished  the  preparation  of  the  Telugu 
Lutheran  Church  Book,  a  translation  of  the  Church  Book 
of  the  General  Council,  not  however  including  all  of  the 
hymns,  the  publication  of  which  is  an  event  of  far-reaching 
significance  in  the  history  of  the  Mission. 

One  of  the  outstanding  events  of  importance  within  the 
past  few  years  was  the  erection  of  the  Hospital  for  Women 
and  Children  at  Halkett's  Garden,  about  half-way  between 

*In  1911  the  Rev.  H.  E.  Isaacson  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
from  Bethany  College,  Lindsborg,  Kansas,  in  recognition  of  his  long  and  faith- 
ful service  as  a  foreign  missionary. 

*  The  pastor's  salary  is  Rs.  40  ($13)  a  month. 


376       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

Rajahmundry  and  Dowlaishwaram.  This  site,  as  we  have 
already  had  occasion  to  narrate,  was  purchased  in  1902,  for 
the  sum  of  $4500,  and  plans  for  a  building  had  been  drawn 
and  approved  by  the  Board  in  1905,  but  they  proved  to 
be  unsatisfactory  and  Dr.  Woerner's  furlough  delayed  the 
preparation  of  new  plans  until  the  year  1009,  when  they 
were  finally  approved  by  the  Board  in  August  of  that  year. 
Arps  was  appointed  superintendent  of  construction.  He  se- 
cured the  service  of  M.  Ramanayya,  a  converted  Brahmin, 
as  contractor,  and  inasmuch  as  the  women's  missionary 
societies  of  the  General  Council  had  already  gathered  most 
of  the  funds  needed,  the  building  operations,  once  begun, 
made  rapid  progress.  The  corner-stone  of  the  main  building 
was  laid  on  January  n,  1910,  by  Mrs.  E.  B.  Elwin,  the  wife 
of  the  Collector  of  the  Coconada  district.  The  Collector 
delivered  an  address  in  English,  and  Missionary  Arps  an  ad- 
dress in  Telugu.  After  the  buildings  were  completed,  the 
Hospital  was  opened  and  dedicated  on  July  20,  1911,  the 
Collector  of  the  District  again  taking  part  in  the  exercises. 
Concerning  this  occasion  Dr.  Woerner  wrote:  "At  last  we  have 
realized  our  long-desired  hospital.  The  formal  opening  day 
was  a  day  of  joy  and  gladness.  Crowds  of  people  were  present. 
A  portion  of  the  second  floor  was  reserved  for  Hindu  ladies. 
It  was  remarkable  how  many  attended  this  public  function. 
Some  years  ago  hardly  one  would  have  been  present.  The 
people,  as  they  went  about  the  place,  were  full  of  praise  and 
admiration.  On  July  24th  the  sick  were  moved  over  from 
the  nurses'  quarters,  where  they  had  been  kept  temporarily, 
and  filled  the  first  large  ward.  The  second  is  now  filling  up 
with  new  patients.  After  years  of  cramping  in  small,  incon- 
venient rooms,  the  work  of  arranging  is  a  great  pleasure.  We 
feel  very  grateful  to  all  who  have  worked  so  long  and  faith- 
fully to  give  us  this  abiding  place  for  the  sick." 

The  Hospital  buildings  consist  of  a  two-story  main  build- 
ing, a  separate,  one-story  building  used  as  a  Maternity 
Ward,  and  a  number  of  smaller  buildings  for  use  as 
kitchen,  contagion  ward,  Eurasian  and  native  helpers  quar- 
ters and  stables.  They  are  built  of  stone  with  dressed 


BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW  OF  THE  HOSPITAL  FOR  WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN, 
RAJAHMUNDRY 


MAIN    BUILDING   OF   THE   HOSPITAL   FOR   WOMEN   AND   CHILDREN, 
RAJAHMUNDRY 


"Till-:    MEDICAL    HOMK" 
The   residence   of   our   medical   missionaries   at    Rajahmundry. 


PATIENTS   OF  THE   CHILDREN'S'    WARDS.    HOSPITAL    FOR   \VOMEX    AND 
CHILDREN,    RAJAHMUNDRY.    WITH    THEIR    NURSES 


RECENT   DEVELOPMENT    (1909-12)  377 

stones  at  all  angles  of  the  buildings.  The  iron  girders  and 
steel  beams  used  in  the  construction  were  shipped  from 
England.  The  cost  of  the  buildings  was  as  follows:  Hospital 
Main  Building,  $21,315;  Isolation  Ward,  $500;  Native 
Helpers'  Quarters,  $333;  Morgue,  $133;  European  Nurses' 
Quarters,  $1000;  Kitchen,  $200;  Stables,  $166;  Compound 
Wall,  $533;  Hospital  Total,  $24,180.  Maternity  Ward, 
$3533;  Grand  Total,  $27,713.  The  Women's  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ministerium  gathered  and  con- 
tributed one-half  of  the  amount  required  to  build  the  Main 
building,  and  the  Women's  Missionary  Society  of  the  Swedish 
Augustana  Synod  the  other  half.  The  Women's  Missionary 
Society  of  the  New  York  and  New  England  Synod,  assisted 
by  the  Women's  Missionary  Society  of  the  Synod  of  Central 
Canada,  paid  for  the  Maternity  Ward.  A  number  of  socie- 
ties and  individuals  provided  the  furniture  of  the  hospital 
buildings,  which  cost  $2900. 

The  growth  of  the  medical  work  in  our  Mission  has  been 
truly  remarkable.  The  total  number  of  visits  at  the  Dispen- 
sary in  Rajahmundry  during  the  year  1910  was  21,394.  The 
number  of  new  patients  treated  was  6488.  In  the  temporary 
hospital  1 88  cases  were  treated,  while  316  private  patients 
were  visited  1470  times.  The  dispensary  minor  operations 
numbered  140,  the  hospital  general  operations  100.  The 
average  daily  attendance  at  the  Rajahmundry  Dispensary 
in  1912,  varied  between  fifty  and  ninety.  Counting  the  rela- 
tives of  patients  probably  one  hundred  people  each  day 
heard  some  message  from  God's  Word  in  this  Dispensary. 
A  Dispensary  was  begun  by  Dr.  Betty  A.  Nilsson  in  Dow- 
larshwaram  in  August,  1911,  which  was  open  three  after- 
noons each  week.  The  number  of  patients  in  the  Rajah- 
mundry Hospital  rose  to  738  in  1912.  About  Rs.  3000 
($1000)  were  received  that  year  as  medical  fees. 

After  having  demonstrated  their  unity  of  spirit  and  effort 
in  the  completion  of  the  hospital  without  a  cent  of  debt,  and 
in  other  united  work,  the  various  synodical  women's  mission- 
ary societies  felt  that  the  time  had  arrived  for  a  federation  in 
one  General  Council  Society.  A  preliminary  step  in  this 


378       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

direction  was  taken  by  a  number  of  women  who  met  in  Minne- 
apolis and  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  Friday  and  Saturday,  September 
lo-n,  1909,  in  connection  with  the  convention  of  the  General 
Council.  They  represented  the  various  synodical  societies, 
and  resolved  to  recommend  to  their  respective  societies  that 
a  General  Council  society  be  organized.  All  of  the  synodical 
societies  adopted  this  recommendation  and  sent  delegates  to 
the  Federation  Convention,  held  in  connection  with  the 
meeting  of  the  General  Council,  September  11-12,  1911,  in 
Trinity  Church,  Lancaster,  Pa.  A  constitution  was  adopted 
and  officers  were  elected  as  follows:  President,  Miss  Laura  V. 
Keck,  Allentown,  Pa. ;  Recording  Secretary,  Mrs.  G.  L.  Eck- 
man,  Jamestown,  N.  Y. ; l  Corresponding  and  Statistical  Sec- 
retary, Mrs.  Frank  E.  Jensen,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.;  Treasurer,  Mrs. 
H.  N.  Miller, Columbus,  O.  ;2  Literature  Secretary,  Mrs.  Charles 
L.  Fry,  Philadelphia,  Pa. ;  Mission  Study  Chairman,  Mrs.  F. 
A.  Kaehler,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. ;  Life  Membership  Chairman,  Mrs. 
L.  K.  Sanford,  Lancaster,  Pa.;  Foreign  Missions  Chairman, 
Mrs.  F.  F.  Fry,  Rochester,  N.  Y. ;  Home  Missions  Chairman, 
Mrs.  G.  H.  Schnur,  St.  Paul,  Minn.;  Porto  Rico  Mission 
Chairman,  Mrs.  A.  E.  Anderson,  St.  Paul,  Minn.;  India  Lace 
Chairman,  Mrs.  A.  Woll,  Philadelphia,  Pa.;  Mission  Exhibit 
Chairman,  Mrs.  S.  C.  Weiskotten,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.;  Organ- 
izing Chairman,  Mrs.  M.  J.  Bieber,  Toronto,  Can.;  Inner 
Mission  Chairman,  Mrs.  A.  J.  D.  Haupt,  Albert  Lea,  Minn.; 
Junior  Work  Chairman,  Miss  Bertha  Ziebarth,  Frankford, 
Ind.  "The  Lutheran  Mission  Worker,"  which  for  many 
years  had  been  published  by  the  society  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Ministerium,  under  the  editorship  of  Miss  Emma  A. 
Endlich  and  Mrs.  Charles  L.  Fry,  was  made  the  official 
organ  of  the  General  Council  Society  and  Mrs.  Fry  was 
continued  as  the  editor  of  this  excellent  quarterly.  The 
Augustana  Society  publishes  a  separate  quarterly  in  Swedish, 
called  "Missions  Tidning." 

The  Rev.  Theodore  R.  Beussel,  a  graduate  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Kropp,   Germany,   serving  a  congregation  in 

1  Mrs.  Walter  C.  Weier,  Toledo,  O.,  is  now  the  Recording  Secretary. 

2  Mrs.  M.  A.  Reeb,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  is  now  the  Treasurer. 


RECENT   DEVELOPMENT    (1909-12)  379 

Bristol,  Conn.,  was  called  by  the  Board  and  commissioned  as 
a  foreign  missionary  in  St.  Peter's  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  October  9,  1910.  He  reached 
Rajahmundry  on  November  23,  that  year.  Four  months  later 
he  resigned,  and  his  resignation  was  accepted  to  take  effect 
July  i,  1912. 

The  largest  number  of  foreign  missionaries  ever  sent  out 
by  the  General  Council  at  one  time  was  commissioned  in  1911. 
Three  ordained  missionaries  and  two  woman  missionaries 
were  sent  to  India,  and  one  ordained  missionary  and  his 
wife  were  sent  to  Japan.  Those  sent  to  India  were  the  Revs. 
Oscar  V.  Werner,  Frederick  W.  Schaefer  and  August  F.  A. 
Neudoerffer,  and  the  Misses  Margaret  C.  Haupt  and  Agatha 
Tatge. 

Oscar  Victor  Carl  Werner  was  born  November  9,  1886,  in 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  He  attended  the  German  Parochial  School 
of  St.  John's  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  Brooklyn  and 
the  public  school  in  that  city.  Then  he  went  to  Tuebingen, 
Germany,  where  from  1896  to  1901  he  attended  the  Royal 
Gymnasium.  Returning  to  the  United  States  he  entered 
Wagner  Memorial  Lutheran  College,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  1904.  He  took  his  course  in  the- 
ology at  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Seminary,  Mt.  Airy,  Phila- 
delphia, was  graduated  and  then  went  to  Columbia  College, 
New  York  City,  where  he  took  a  special  course.  He  was 
ordained  in  1909,  and  followed  a  call  to  become  pastor 
of  Christ  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  Freeport,  Long 
Island,  N.  Y.,  which  he  served  until  in  September,  1911, 
he  resigned  to  accept  the  call  of  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  to  go  to  India  as  a  missionary  of  the  General 
Council. 

Frederick  William  Schaefer  was  born  in  New  York  City, 
November  22, 1883.  He  attended  public  schools  in  New  York 
City,  and  then  went  to  Wagner  Memorial  Lutheran  College, 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1902.  He 
studied  theology  in  the  Seminary  at  Mt.  Airy,  Philadelphia, 
was  graduated  and  was  ordained  in  1905.  After  serving  a 
congregation  at  Lockport,  Pa.,  from  1905  to  1907,  he  became 


380       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Ascension,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  where 
he  was  serving  when  called  to  go  to  India. 

Both  of  these  missionaries  were  commissioned  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board,  the  Rev.  Professor  Edward  T.  Horn,  D.  D., 
Sunday  evening,  September  10,  1911,  in  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,  New  York  City. 

On  the  morning  of  that  day  the  President  commissioned 
Miss  Agatha  Tatge  in  the  Church  of  the  Advent,  New  York 
City,  and  the  General  Secretary,  the  Rev.  George  Drach, 
commissioned  Miss  Margaret  Haupt  in  the  First  Lutheran 
Church,  Pittsburgh. 

Agatha  Marie  Dorothea  Tatge  was  born  in  Chicago,  111. 
Her  mother  died  when  Agatha  was  twelve  years  old.  She 
was  confirmed  the  next  year  by  the  Rev.  Zenan  M.  Corbe. 
When  she  was  fourteen  she  was  taken  out  of  school  by  her 
uncle  and  aunt,  her  guardians,  but  later  went  to  the  Lutheran 
Ladies'  Seminary,  Red  Wing,  Minn.,  where  she  took  the  regu- 
lar four  years'  course,  being  graduated  in  1906.  That  fall 
she  entered  the  Hackley  Hospital  Training  School  for  Nurses, 
Muskegon,  Mich.,  and  was  graduated  three  years  later.  Then 
she  entered  Teachers'  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York 
City,  majoring  in  Hospital  Economics,  and  was  graduated  on 
June  7,  1911.  Her  special  work  in  the  Mission  is  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Department  of  Nursing  in  the  Hospital  for  Women 
and  Children,  Rajahmundry. 

Margaret  Cecelia  Haupt  is  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  A.  J.  D.  Haupt.  She  was  born  in  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  while 
her  father  was  pastor  in  that  city.  She  spent  the  fall,  winter 
and  spring  of  1910-1911  at  the  Mary  J.  Drexel  Home  and 
Motherhouse  of  Deaconesses,  Philadelphia,  as  the  first  student 
in  the  special  course  arranged  for  the  training  of  woman  mis- 
sionaries in  that  institution. 

For  all  of  these  outgoing  missionaries,  as  well  as  for  the 
Rev.  Edward  T.  Horn,  Jr.,  and  his  fiancee,  who  were  going 
to  Japan,  and  for  the  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Ernst  Neudoerffer,  who 
were  returning  to  India  after  furlough,  a  farewell  service  was 
held  in  connection  with  the  convention  of  the  General  Council, 
in  Trinity  Church,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  Thursday  evening,  Septem- 


RECENT    DEVELOPMENT    (1909-12)  381 

her  14,  1911.  Those  who  had  the  privilege  to  attend  that 
service  will  never  forget  it.  The  President  of  the  Board 
in  a  most  admirable  manner  introduced  each  missionary  in 
turn  and  each  in  well-chosen  words  responded.  Finally  the 
President  of  the  General  Council,  the  Rev.  Theodore  E. 
Schmauk,  D.  D.,  in  a  most  happy  manner  acknowledged  for 
the  whole  General  Council  the  introduction  of  the  missionaries 
and  encouraged  them  with  the  assurance  of  the  presence  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  whom  all  power  is  given  in  heaven  and 
on  earth.  During  the  service,  as  one  after  the  other  of  the 
missionaries  spoke,  tears  came  to  the  eyes  of  those  who  heard 
their  solemn  and  impressive  words;  not  tears  of  sorrow  but 
of  joy,  because  such  a  numerous  and  noble  band  of  young  men 
and  women  had  been  found  willing  and  ready  to  carry  the 
Gospel  to  the  heathen. 

At  ten  o'clock  on  Saturday  morning,  September  i6th,  those 
bound  for  India  sailed  from  New  York,  six  adults  and  two 
children,  and  reached  Rajahmundry,  October  25,  1911.  Two 
or  three  days  later  the  new  missionaries  began  their  study  of 
the  Telugu  language.1 

After  this  band  of  missionaries  had  sailed  away,  the  Rev. 
August  F.  A.  Neudoerffer,  a  younger  brother  of  the  Rev. 
Ernst  Neudoerffer,  whom  the  Board  had  twice  called  to  go  to 
India,  offered  to  follow  his  elder  brother  to  the  mission  field, 
was  accepted  and  commissioned  in  St.  Johannis'  German 
Lutheran  Church,  Philadelphia,  Wednesday  evening,  Novem- 
ber 29,  1911. 

August  F.  A.  Neudoerffer  was  born  June  18,  1896,  at  Santo 
Leopolidina,  Brazil,  where  his  father,  the  Rev.  Ernst  Neudoerf- 
fer, Sr.,  was  a  missionary  for  seven  years.  About  a  year  after 
the  birth  of  August  the  family  went  to  Germany,  and  from 
there  to  Canada,  where  his  father  has  since  served,  at  Neustadt, 
Ontario.  He  attended  public  school  at  Normandy,  Ontario, 
and  in  the  fall  of  1897  he  entered  Wagner  Memorial  Lutheran 
College,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  from  which  he  was  graduated  hi 

1  New  missionaries  devote  the  entire  first  year  to  the  study  of  the  vernacular. 
During  the  second  year,  while  continuing  their  language  study,  they  are  associ- 
ated with  an  older  missionary.  After  having  passed  the  second  examination 
at  the  end  of  the  second  year,  they  are  placed  in  charge  of  work. 


382       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

1 902.  After  the  regular  course  in  theology  at  the  Seminary 
in  Philadelphia,  he  was  ordained  June  19,  1905,  and  then  took 
charge  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Hainesport,  N.  J.,  which  he  served 
six  and  one-half  years.  He  left  New  York  December  9,  1911, 
and  reached  Rajahmundry  January  17,  1912. 

Among  the  more  recent  developments  in  the  home  admin- 
istration was  the  incorporation  of  the  Board.  In  accord- 
ance with  the  instruction  of  the  General  Council,  convened  in 
Minneapolis  in  1909,  the  Board  sought  and  secured  a  Charter 
of  Incorporation,  which  was  granted  by  the  Decree  of  Judge 
William  H.  Staake  of  Philadelphia,  on  November  18,  1910, 
and  accepted  by  the  Board  at  its  meeting  on  February  2, 
1911.  In  this  charter  the  Board  is  given  the  following  Con- 
stitution : 

"  i .  The  name  of  the  Corporation  is  and  shall  be  '  The  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  General  Council  of  the  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church  in  North  America.' 

"2.  The  object  for  which  the  said  Corporation  is  formed 
shall  be  to  conduct  the  foreign  missions  of  the  General  Council 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  North  America,  and 
maintain  the  same  in  accordance  with  the  Confessions  of  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  as  accepted  by  the  General 
Council  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  North  America, 
in  such  places  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  determined  by  the 
said  Corporation,  and  provide  ways  and  means  for  the  carry- 
ing on  and  extension  of  said  work,  and  to  perform  such  other 
duties  as  are  usually  incumbent  upon  and  pertain  to  a  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions. 

"3.  The  business  of  said  Corporation  shall  be  transacted  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"4.  The  said  Corporation  has  no  capital  stock  and  is  to 
exist  perpetually. 

"5.  The  management  and  control  of  said  Corporation  shall 
be  vested  in  a  Board  not  exceeding  sixteen  members,  who  shall 
be  elected  by  the  said  General  Council  of  the  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church  in  North  America,  for  a  term  of  four  years, 
one-half  of  this  number  being  chosen  at  each  biennial  conven- 


CORPORATE   SEAL  OF  THE   BOARD  OF  FOREIGN   MISSIONS   OF  THE 

GENERAL    COUNCIL    OF    THE    EVANGELICAL    LUTHERAN 

CHURCH  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


THE  CHURCH  COUNCIL  QF  ST.  PAUL'S  CONGREGATION,  RAJAHMUNDRY 


R.    Charles  M.    Devadas 

Pastor   P.    Paradesi         V.    Sriramulu         Rev.    C.    F. 


A.   Paul 
Kuder          M.    Samuel 


REV.   PROF.   ADOLPH   SPAETH,   D.  D.,   LL.D., 
1876-1892 


REV.    PROF.    CHARLES    W.    SCHAEFFER,    D.  D.,   LL.D. 
1892-1896 


REV.    HUGO  GRAHN,   D.  D. 
1896-1901 


REV.   PROF.   HENRY   E.   JACOBS,   D.  D.,   LL.D., 
1901-1907 


REV.    PROF.    EDWARD  T.    HORN,   D.  D.,   LL.D., 
since   1907. 


PRESIDENTS   OF   THE    BOARD   OF   FOREIGN    MISSIONS 


RECENT   DEVELOPMENT    (1909-12)  383 

tion  of  the  said  General  Council,  provided,  however,  that  the 
said  Board  shall  have  the  power  to  fill  any  vacancies  that  may 
occur  in  its  membership  between  the  conventions  or  meetings 
of  the  said  General  Council." 

At  the  subsequent  meeting  of  the  Board  the  following  action 
was  taken:  "In  accepting  the  Charter  of  Incorporation  this 
Board  interprets  the  clause,  'in  accordance  with  the  Confes- 
sions of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  as  accepted  by  the 
General  Council  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  North 
America/  to  mean,  that  all  the  work  of  this  corporation  shall 
be  on  the  basis  of  the  Principles  of  Faith  and  Church  Polity 
of  the  General  Council,  according  to  the  directions  of  the 
General  Council  in  session  at  Minneapolis,  September  9-14, 
1909." 

Under  this  Charter  and  Constitution  the  Board  re-organized 
by  the  election  of  its  former  officers  and  the  adoption  of  the 
former  by-laws. 

The  Rev.  H.  Grahn,  D.  D.,  resigned  as  business  manager 
of  the  "  Missionsbote "  at  the  close  of  the  year  1910,  having 
served  in  that  capacity  since  1901,  and  the  Rev.  R.  C.  G. 
Bielinski,  editor  of  that  paper,  took  charge  also  of  the  business 
management.  The  Rev.  Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D.,  resigned 
as  a  member  of  the  Board  in  February,  1911,  and  the  Hon. 
Frank  M.  Riter  was  elected  to  fill  the  unexpired  term.  In 
August,  1910,  the  Rev.  P.  J.  O.  Cornell  succeeded  the  Rev. 
S.  C.  Franzen  as  a  member  of  the  Board.  The  General  Coun- 
cil in  1911  elected  the  following  new  members  of  the  Board: 
The  Rev.  F.  Jacobson,  Ph.  D.,  and  Messrs.  A.  Raymond  Bard, 
Robert  Gaskell  and  B.  F.  Cressman. 

The  present  officers  of  the  Board  are:  President,  the  Rev. 
Prof.  Edward  T.  Horn,  D.  D.,  LL.D.;  Treasurer,  Mr.  James 
M.  Snyder;  English  Recording  Secretary,  the  General  Secre- 
tary, the  Rev.  George  Drach,  by  appointment;  German 
Recording  Secretary,  the  Rev.  R.  C.  G.  Bielinski;  Swedish 
Recording  Secretary,  the  Rev.  P.  J.  O.  Cornell.  Dr.  S.  C. 
Seiple,  of  Centre  Square,  Pa.,  a  former  member  of  the  Board, 
is  the  Board's  Medical  Adviser.  The  other  members  of  the 
Board  are  the  Revs.  L.  G.  Abrahamson,  D.  D.,  S.  G. 


384   THE  TELUGU  MISSION  OF  THE  GENERAL  COUNCIL 

Youngert,  D.  D.,1  C.  A.  Miller,  D.  D.,1  W.  E.  Frey,  John  A. 
Weyl,  R.  C.  G.  Bielinski,  and  Messrs.  Prof.  C.  W.  Foss,  W. 
F.  Monroe,  Frank  M.  Riter,  A.  Raymond  Bard,  Robert  Gas- 
kell  and  B.  F.  Cressman,  making  sixteen  members,  represent- 
ing five  different  synods  of  the  General  Council. 

A  Swedish  District  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions was  elected  in  1911.  The  first  incumbent  of  this 
office,  the  Rev.  Carl  Solomonson,  began  his  work  December 
15,  1911,  but  one  year  later  obtained  leave  of  absence  for 
a  year  or  more  to  act  as  a  solicitor  of  funds  for  Gustavus 
Adolphus  College,  St.  Peter,  Minn.,  his  alma  mater.  The 
duties  of  this  office  are  denned  as  follows:  i.  To  represent 
the  Board  in  the  congregations  of  the  Augustana  Synod. 
2.  To  spread  information,  awaken  interest  and  solicit  funds 
for  the  support  of  the  foreign  missions  of  the  General 
Council.  3.  To  interest  and  recommend  young  men  and 
women  for  service  in  our  mission  fields.  4.  To  keep  the  people 
informed  of  our  work  at  home  and  abroad  through  the  papers 
of  the  Augustana  Synod  and  such  literature  as  may  be  ap- 
proved by  the  Board.  5.  To  perform  such  other  duties  as  the 
Board  from  tune  to  time  may  determine.  6.  The  relation 
of  the  Swedish  District  Secretary  to  the  Board  shall  be  (a) 
to  labor  under  the  direction  of  the  Board  and  report  to  it  at 
each  regular  meeting  through  the  General  Secretary  concern- 
ing his  work  and  expenses ;  (b)  to  attend  the  regular  meetings 
of  the  Board  as  often  as  possible  and  to  be  present  whenever 
called  by  the  President  of  the  Board ;  (c)  to  remit  monthly  all 
money  received  for  our  foreign  missions  to  the  treasurer  of 
the  Mission  Board  of  the  Augustana  Synod,  and  report  the 
same  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 

Among  the  sure  indications  of  a  more  intense  and  wide- 
spread interest  in  foreign  missions  is  the  support  of  individual 
missionaries  by  societies  and  congregations.  Those  now  being 
supported  are: 

The  Rev.  C.  F.  Kuder  by  the  Men's  Bible  Class  of  Holy 

1  The  Rev.  Dr.  Youngert  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Miller  were  elected  by  the  Gen- 
eral Council  in  1913,  taking  the  places  of  the  Rev.  M.  C.  Ranseen,  D.  D.,  and 
the  Rev.  C.  Theodore  Benze,  D.  D.,  the  latter  having  been  elected  American 
professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Kropp,  Germany. 


RECENT    DEVELOPMENT    (1909-12)  385 

Trinity  Church,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  the  Rev.  F.  A.  Kaehler,  D.  D., 
pastor;  the  Rev.  Karl  L.  Wolters  by  the  Luther  Leagues  of 
Buffalo;  the  Rev.  Edward  T.  Horn,  Jr.,  by  the  Men's  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  of  Holy  Trinity  Church,  Reading,  Pa.; 
the  Rev.  O.  O.  Eckardt  by  the  First  Swedish  Lutheran  Church 
of  St.  Paul,  Minn,  (in  part) ;  Miss  Sigrid  Esberhn  by  the  Ice- 
landic Evangelical  Lutheran  Synod;  Miss  Susan  E.  Monroe 
by  herself;  Miss  Betty  A.  Nilsson,  M.  D.,  by  the  Women's 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Augustana  Synod;  Miss  Lydia 
Woerner,  M.  D.,  by  the  Women's  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Eastern  Conference  of  the  New  York  and  New  England 
Synod;  Miss  Agatha  Tatge  by  the  Church  of  the  Advent, 
New  York,  the  Rev.  William  M.  Horn,  pastor;  Miss  Agnes 
I.  Schade  by  the  Women's  Missionary  Society  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh Synod;  Miss  Amy  B.  Rohrer,  M.  D.,  by  the  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Church  of  the  Reformation,  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
the  Rev.  Frank  F.  Fry,  pastor;  Rev.  Oscar  V.  Werner  by 
St.  John's  Church,  Allentown,  Pa.,  the  Rev.  A.  Steimle, 
pastor. 

There  has  been  a  decided  increase  in  the  income  of  the 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions  during  the  past  few  years.  In 
1905  the  income  was  $29,552.87;  five  years  later  (1910)  it  was 
$48,451.57;  in  1911  it  rose  to  $60,263.13,  and  in  1913,  to 
$66,546.41.  These  figures  do  not  include  the  sum  raised  by 
the  Women's  Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Societies  for  the 
new  hospital,  which  flowed  into  the  Board's  treasury  in  1910 
and  1911,  and  amounted  to  over  $30,000. 

The  expenditures  have  steadily  kept  pace  with  the  income, 
due  in  part  to  the  increase  of  the  number  of  missionaries,  and 
in  part  to  increased  appropriations  for  the  expanding  mission 
work.  Thus,  while  hi  1905,  $8000  were  sent  to  India  for  the 
regular  expenses  of  mission  work,  $18,000  were  sent  for  that 
purpose  during  1911,  and  $20,625.00  in  1913.  These  figures 
do  not  include  the  salaries  and  allowances  of  the  mssionaries. 

Two  of  the  main  factors  in  the  development  of  the  foreign 
mission  spirit  and  effort  in  our  churches  have  been  the  organ- 
ization of  women's  missionary  societies  and  the  Laymen's 
Missionary  Movement. 

25 


386       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

The  following  table  of  statistics  shows  the  growth  of  our 
Telugu  Mission  since  it  became  the  General  Council's  Mission: 

1870.   l88o.    1890.    IQOO.      I9OS.      IQIO.      IQI*. 

Christians 160    335  1056  6159  13,823  16,953  19,751 

Communicants 70    216  978  3000  6,135  9.926  10,845 

Foreign  missionaries 24  4  5  16  12  21 

Native  workers 9       16  90  142  314  347  411 

Pupils  in  school 138    440  1473  3500  5,275  6,099  6,559 

In  1912  the  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Arps  returned  to  India  and  Dr. 
Lydia  Woerner  left  Rajahmundry  on  sick-leave  and  furlough; 
and  the  Revs.  Thure  Holmer  and  Ivar  F.  Witting  and  Miss 
Mary  Borthwick  were  sent  out  as  missionaries.  Rev.  Ivar 
F.  Witting,  after  a  residence  of  four  months  in  India,  re- 
signed and,  although  urged  to  reconsider  his  resignation, 
insisted  on  it  and  returned  to  the  United  States. 

The  Rev.  Thure  Holmer  was  born  in  Sweden,  June  5, 1882, 
and  came  to  the  United  States  with  his  parents  when  he 
was  eight  years  of  age.  The  family  settled  at  Falconer, 
N.  Y.  Mr.  Holmer  entered  Augustana  College  in  1902,  and 
was  graduated  from  the  Theological  Seminary  and  was  or- 
dained in  1912.  On  July  I'jih,  that  year,  he  married  Miss 
Pauline  Celia  Bjork.  Sailing  from  New  York  on  July  3ist, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holmer  reached  Rajahmundry  on  October  23, 
1912,  the  day  on  which  the  Rev.  O.  V.  Werner  and  Miss 
Margaret  C.  Haupt  were  married  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Rajah- 
mundry. 

Miss  Mary  S.  Borthwick  was  born  in  Chestnut  Hill,  Phila- 
delphia, where  she  was  baptized  and  confirmed  in  Christ 
Church.  She  took  the  one  year's  course  at  the  Mary  J. 
Drexel  Home  and  Motherhouse  of  Deaconesses,  and  was 
commissioned  in  her  home  congregation  on  October  15,  1912, 
by  the  President  of  the  Board.  She  accompanied  the  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  Arps  to  Rajahmundry,  arriving  November  21, 
1912. 

Mr.  Hiram  H.  Sipes,  Jr.,  a  graduate  of  Thiel  College, 
class  of  1913,  accepted  the  call  of  the  Board  to  go  to  our 
Telugu  Mission  in  India  and  assist  in  its  educational  work. 
He  married  Miss  Elsie  Ashe  of  Greenville,  Pa.,  on  Aug. 


RECENT    DEVELOPMENT    (1909-12)  387 

21,  1913,  was  commissioned  on  Sunday  evening,  October 
1 2th,  in  Holy  Trinity  Lutheran  Church,  Greenville,  Pa.,  and 
reached  Rajahmundry  in  November,  1913.  During  that 
month  Dr.  H.  E.  Isaacson  returned  to  India,  leaving  his 
wife  and  children  in  Lindsborg,  Kansas,  and  Dr.  Betty  A. 
Nilsson  came  back  to  America  on  furlough. 

The  year  1912  opened  at  Rajahmundry  with  the  con- 
vention of  the  All-India  Lutheran  Conference,  December 
31,  i9ii-January  4,  1912,  which  was  attended  by  93  dele- 
gates. "They  represented  the  Leipsic,  Swedish  and  Danish 
Missions  of  the  Tamil  country,  the  Hermannsburg,  Schleswig- 
Holstein,  Rajahmundry  and  Guntur  Missions  of  the  Telugu 
country,  and  the  Gossner  Mission  of  Chota  Nagpur  in  the 
North.  Greetings  were  received  from  the  Santal  Mission, 
the  Missionary  Society  of  Stockholm  and  the  Moravian  Mis- 
sion. If  not  in  the  strictest  geographical  sense,  at  least  as 
far  as  Lutherans  go,  the  comprehensiveness  of  the  term  "All 
India"  was  justified.  The  delegates  came  from  the  South 
of  India,  where  the  breezes  have  not  yet  spent  all  their  spicy 
fragrance,  of  which,  softly  blowing,  they  robbed  Ceylon's 
isle;  they  came  from  the  sun-scorched  plains  of  Central 
India,  where  great  rivers  roll  seaward  in  tepid  sluggishness; 
they  came  from  the  far  North,  where  the  vast,  snowy  reaches 
of  the  Himalayas  abruptly  bound  the  view.  There  were 
young  men  still  in  the  newness  of  the  first  years  of  their 
service,  still  studying  the  respective  vernaculars  of  their  fields 
of  work;  men  in  the  prime  of  life,  who  had  tested  their  strength 
upon  the  tasks  God  gave  them  to  perform  amidst  surround- 
ing heathendom,  and  who  were  wise  in  counsel  and  strong  in 
deed ;  older  men  whose  whitening  hair  confirmed  the  story  told 
by  their  battle-scarred  faces,  of  decades  of  service  against  the 
forces  of  Satan,  and  who  yet  burned  at  heart  with  the  zeal  of 
young  warriors.  Moreover,  there  was  not  a  department  of 
woman's  work  in  missions  that  had  not  its  representative 
among  the  goodly  complement  of  women  present  at  the 
Conference.  Finally,  by  the  type  of  their  manhood  and  by 
their  faith,  the  twelve  Indian  delegates,  almost  all  of  them 
ordained  ministers  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  gave  proof  of  the 


388       THE    TELUGU    MISSION    OF    THE    GENERAL    COUNCIL 

quickening  power  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  were  distinct 
encomiums  upon  the  work  for  the  furtherance  of  which  the 
Conference  and  its  individual  members  were  human  agencies." 
"Federation"  was  the  main  topic  of  discussion,  and  the 
desire  for  closer  co-operation  and  union,  especially  in  educa- 
tional and  literary  work,  found  expression  in  a  set  of  resolu- 
tions and  in  the  appointment  of  a  permanent  committee,  each 
Mission  being  represented  by  one  member,  to  which  was 
entrusted,  among  other  things,  the  duty  of  the  furtherance  of 
the  federation  of  Lutheran  Missions  in  India,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  census  of  191 1 ,  have  a  constituency  of  nearly  250,000. 

One  of  the  resolutions  of  the  All-India  Lutheran  Con- 
ference, held  at  Rajahmundry,  reads  as  follows:  "The  All- 
India  Lutheran  Conference,  in  session  at  Rajahmundry, 
strongly  urges  and  approves  of  the  establishment  of  a  United 
Lutheran  Theological  Seminary  at  Madras.  It  recommends 
that  every  mission  represented  in  the  Conference,  uniting  in 
the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  such  a  united  insti- 
tution, pay  its  share  of  the  original  cost  involved  in  the 
starting  of  such  an  institution,  including  the  land  and 
buildings,  set  aside  and  support  a  missionary  professor,  if 
desirable,  and  pay  its  part  of  the  salaries  of  Indian  teachers 
and  other  general  expenses.  It  recommends  that,  as  soon  as 
possible,  the  first  class  be  formed.  It  recommends  that  all 
professors  and  teachers  in  this  Seminary  be  bound  to  an 
acceptance  of  the  Bible  as  the  infallible  rule  of  doctrine  and 
life,  and  that  they  be  required  to  subscribe  to  the  Augus- 
tana  Invariata.  It  recommends  that  the  Synodical  Books 
be  an  essential  part  of  the  curriculum  of  studies." 

The  General  Council  at  its  convention  in  Toledo,  O., 
September  11-16,  1913,  discussed  this  project  and  adopted 
the  following  recommendations  of  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions : 

"Resolved,  that  we  approve  the  resolution  adopted  by 
representatives  of  the  Lutheran  missions  in  India,  namely, 
that  the  All-India  Lutheran  Conference  become  a  permanent 
body;  but  the  details  of  its  organization  should  depend  upon 


REV.  B.  M.  SCHMUCKER,  D.  D. 
Secretary,    1876-1888 


REV.   WILLIAM  ASHMEAD  SCHAEFFER,   D.  D. 
Secretary    1888-1906 


REV.    F.    W.    WEISKOTTEN 
Commissioner   to    India   in    1900 


REV.     T.    TELLEEN,    D.  D. 
Agent  and   Superintendent,    1891-1902 


REV.    GEORGE    DRACH 
General    Secretary,    since    1905. 


MR.    TAMES   M.   SNYDER 
Secretary  1902-"l908;  Treasurer,  since   1908. 


EXECUTIVE   OFFICERS   OF  THE   BOARD  OF   FOREIGN   MISSIONS 


,",       A 


THE    ALL-INDIA    LUTHERAN    CONFERENCE    OF    MISSIONARIES 
Held    in    St.    Paul's    Church,    Rajahmundry.    in    January,    1912. 


RECENT   DEVELOPMENT    (1909-12)  389 

the  further  action  of  the  Boards  concerned.  In  reference 
to  co-operation  in  this  Conference,  as  well  as  to  the  Joint 
Theological  Seminary  proposed  for  all  Lutheran  missions  in 
India,  the  General  Council  advises,  as  precedent  to  all  action 
on  the  subject,  an  amendment  to  the  Confessional  Statement, 
to  wit,  the  acceptance  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as 
the  infallible  Rule  of  Faith  and  Practice,  the  adoption  of 
the  Unaltered  Augsburg  Confession  and  the  Small  Cate- 
chism of  Luther  as  the  statement  of  our  faith,  and  the  rec- 
ognition of  the  other  Confessions  contained  in  the  Book  of 
Concord  as  a  correct  answer  to  the  questions  concerning  the 
faith  which  arose  in  the  Lutheran  Church  after  the  adoption 
of  the  Augsburg  Confession. 

"The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  is  hereby  authorized, 
upon  the  approval  of  our  suggestions  by  all  the  other  Boards 
or  a  number  of  them,  to  proceed  to  the  consideration  of  the 
further  propositions  of  the  All- India  Lutheran  Conference." 


If  the  Home  Churches  in  America  and  Europe  will  do  their 
full  share  of  foreign  mission  work  by  sending  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  missionaries  and  furnishing  an  adequate  financial  sup- 
port, the  day  cannot  be  far  distant  when  the  Lutheran  Church 
in  India,  united,  strong  and  vigorous,  will  stand  in  the  front 
rank  of  the  great  army  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  righting 
with  the  spiritual  armor  and  weapons  which  He  furnishes,  for 
the  Christian  conquest  of  India;  and  one  of  the  largest  and 
strongest  divisions  of  the  Lutheran  part  of  this  army  should 
come  from  the  field  of  the  Telugu  Mission  of  the  General 
Council  in  the  Godavery  and  Kistna  districts  of  the  Madras 
Presidency. 


INDEX 


AARON,  too 

Aberly,  J.,  309 

Abraham,  S.,  288,  290 

Abrahamson,  L.  G.,  325,  362,  383 

Achutaramayya,  344 

Addatigula,  288,  291 

Adigopula,  99,  109,  123 

Advent,  Church  of,  N.  Y.,  385 

Agartipalem,  151,  178,  189,  203,  220 

Agraharam,  290 

Akron,  O.,  5 

Albert,  L.  E.,  128 

Alexander,  B.,  303 

Alexander,  Canon  F.  N.,  130,  191 

All  India  Lutheran  Conference,  387 

Allen  town,  Pa.,  16 

Allowances,  347 

Amalapur,  178 

Amelia,  M.,  205 

American  Baptists,  46 

American  Bible  Society,  56,  65 

Anandam,  B.,  311 

Anandappan,  A.,  356 

Anna,  R.,  178 

Annakoderu,  203,  290 

Annawaram,  290 

Appiah,  80 

Arbuthnot  &  Co.,  56,  350,  358 

Aredu,  290 

Arjulapalem,  298 

Arps,  R.,  292,  302,  303,  309,  327,  328; 

first  furlough,  334,  342,  343,  345,  374 
Artman,  H.  G.  B.,  198-200,  201,  204, 

209,  213,  216, 219, 220;  dies,  222 
Askam,  Wm.  B.,  76 
Augustana    Foreign    Mission    Society 

(Rock  Island),  374 

B 

BAEHNISCH,  Paul,  292,  317 

Baker,  J.  C.,  14,  16,  21,  35,  37,  67,  76, 


Ballapadu,  237 


Ballasamudi,  290 

Baptists.     See  Canadian  Baptists. 

Bard,  A.  R.,  383,  384 

Barlow,  51 

Barnabas,  80,  101,  103 

Bastar,  208 

Bauer,  F.  R.,  241 

Baugher,  H.  L.,  16 

Baugher,  Isaac,  16,  56 

Bauman,  Mrs.  J.  A.,  271,  278 

Beates,  Wm.,  14,  16,  35 

Becker,  C.  F.  J.,  128,   135,   143;  dies, 

144 

Beer,  46,  78 
Belfour,  £.,335 
Bender,  L.  P.,  253 
Benze,  C.  T.,  367 
Berger,  J.  18, 

Bethlehem  School  and  Church,  344 
Beussel,  T.  R.,  378-9 
Bhimawaram,    157,    203,    252,     290, 

300-1,  365 

Bhimawaram  Church,  284,  301 
Bible  Society  of  Lebanon  County,  Pa., 

19 

Bible,  Telugu,  166-7,  iQr»  29r 

Bible  women,  319 

Bielinski,  R.,  330,  336,  383,  384 

Black,  Wm.,  122 

Blomgren,  C.  A.,  314,  324,  336,  353 

Board  incorporated,  382-3 

Bondada,  290 

Book  Depot,  209,  361 

Borthwick,  Miss  M.,  386 

Bothmann,  H.,  208,  220 

Bowden,  46 

Boys'  Boarding  School,  80,  99,  100, 
145,  178,  189,  204,  209,  216,  220, 
226,  235,  242-3,  250,  273,  276,  285- 
6, 287,  288,  304,  307-8,  311,  349,  365 

Boys'  Schools,  65 

Braun,  Wm.  P.  M.,  357 

Bremer,  J.  A.,  324 

Brenda,  38 

British  Bible  Society,  56,  65,  209 

Brobst,  S.  J.,  14 


391 


392  INDEX 


Brobst,  S.  K.,  137,  173 

Buckel,  Gen.,  51 

Buehler,  Martin,  88 

Buffalo  Luther  Leagues,  347,  385 


CALEB,  P.,  227 

Canadian  Baptists,  156,  162,  170,  171, 

173,  225,  283,  356 
Cape  Girardeau,  Mo.,  31 
Carey,  Wm.,  191 
Carlisle,  Pa.,  29 
Carlson,  A.  B.,  187-9,  J96,  201;  died, 

204 

Cassaday,  E.  R.,  280,  294,  334,  326 
Cassel,  H.  S.,  324 
Caste  Girls'  Schools,  207,  215,  225,  233, 

235,  246,  275,  278,  310,  318,  344 
Catechisms  (Telugu),  57,  99,  213.    See 

Publications. 

Central  Missionary  Society,  13,  15,  32 
Chamberlain,  J.,  191 
Chambersburg,  Pa.,  16 
Charles,  N.,  311 
Charles,  R.,  286 
Cheraigudem,  290 
Chilukur,  290 
Chinnamiram,  290 
Chinsa  Ramurdu,  101,  103 
Chittipet,  257 
Chodavaram,  290,  310 
Christine,  107 

Christmas  Boxes,  246,  255,  295,  361 
Church  Book  (Telugu),  206,  375 
Church  Missionary  Society  (Anglican), 

46,  130,  156,  171 
Coconada,  121,  126 
Combs,  Md.,  28 
Commissioners,  362,  367-8 
Conference,    189,    206,    210,    218-19, 

226,  242,  248,  255,  273,  296 
Cooper,  C.  J.,  271 
Cordes,  A.,  272,  280,  294 
Cornelius,  165 

Cornell,  P.  J.  O.,  253,  289,  383 
Cotton,  Sir  Arthur,  84,  104,  248 
Cran,  Mr.,  45 
Cressman,  B.  F.,  383,  384 
Cully,  E.  R.,  123,  140 
Cumberland,  Md.,  27,  28 
Cutter,  Wm.  J.,  89,  98,  102,  103 


DACHEPALLI,  79 
Dangler,  336,  347 


Darling,  Mr.,  82,  130 

Dawson,  Mr.,  45 

Day,  Mr.,  47 

Deck,  J.  P.,  241 

Dederick,  R.,  76 

Demme,  C.  R.,   14,  19,   21,  35,  76, 

"3 

Desgrange,  Mr.,  45 
Devadas,  M.,  286,  311 
Devalapilly,  66 
Devasikamani,  80 
Devipatnam,  164 
Diehl,  Mrs.  R.  A.,  255,  271 
Dietrich,  F.  S.,  212,  216,  220,  226,  229, 

238,  240,  244,  248,  250-1,  254;  dies, 

258-9 

Dirusumarru,  290 
Douglass,  Mr.,  46 
"Dove  of  Peace,"  175 
Dowlaishwaram,  84,  96,  97,  124,  141, 

156,  178,  213,  220,  238,  240,  244, 

250-1,  254,  257,308,309 
Drach,  George,  347,  353,  354,  37°,  383 
Duff,  J.  Boyd,  335 
Dulla,  178 
Durachintapalem,  310 


EASTON,  Pa.,  14 

Eckardt,  O.  O.,  351-2 

Edman,  E.,  261,  281,  290,  291,  303, 

312,  330,  343 
Eglund,  M.  J.,  253 
Ellore,  48,  80,  86,  87,  95,  130 
Elofson,  C.,  289 
Elwin,  E.  B.,  376 
Endlich,  John,  173 
Endli:h,Miss  E.,  316 
Ennamaduru,  290 
Enoch,  103 
Erhard,  Fr.,  14 
Ernst,  W.  G.,  88 
Esberhn,  Miss  S.,  365 
Evald,  C.  A.,  335 
Evans,  Dr.,  51 
Executive  Committee,  342 
Ezra,  loo 


FAMINE,  179-80 

Father  Heyer  Missionary  Society,  201 

222 

Fell's  Point,  Md.,  33 
Fever  line,  291,  226 
Fichthorn,  A.  S.,  340,  342,  348,  370 


INDEX 


393 


File,  J.  C.,  182,  241 

Financial  exhibits,  16,  19,  55,  56,  67, 
88,  89,  103,  107,  113,  127,  171,  172, 
181,  193,  200,  218,  221,  225,  239, 

279,  294,  3i4,  323,  385 
First  Church,  Pittsburgh,  88 
Fischer,  Aug.,  325 
Fischer,  C.  G.,  211,  241,  264 
Fluck,  J.  F.  C.,  204,  324 
"Foreign  Missionary,  The,"  193,  201, 

225,  254,  204,  337,  353,  368 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  (G.    S.), 

17,  18,  59,  60,  182 
Foss,  C.  W.,  335,  367,  384 
Fox,  Mr.,  46 
Frank,  H.,  241 
Franzen,  S.  C.,  369,  383 
Frederick,  Md.,  12 
Friedensburg,  Pa.,  28 
Frey,  A.  E.,  182 
Frey,  Wm.  E.,  362,  383 
Fry,  E.,  32 
Fry,  J.,  137,  173,  213,  370 


GABRIEL,  K.,  311 

Gadala,  310 

Garrakaparau,  290 

Gaskell,  Robt.,  383,  384 

Gebhart,  G.,  29 

Geissenhainer,  A.  T.,  137,  173,  188 

Giessenhainer,  F.  W.,  76,  206 

General  Council:  organized,  133;  early 

mission  efforts,  133-4 
General  Secretary,  182,  247,  289,  323, 

340,  353 
General  Synod:  early  history,  12,  13, 

IS 

George's  Hill,  28 

German  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
(G.  S.):  organized,  15;  early  oper- 
ations, 16-17 

Germany,  Md.,  28 

Gilbert,  D.,  16 

Girls'  Central  School,  310,  321,  343, 
364 

Girls'  Schools,  54,  64,  77;  in  Rajah- 
mundry  Mission,  98,  100,  109,  120, 
205,  220,  305 

Glades,  Md.  28 

Gnananandam,  B.,  277 

Godavery  District,  156-9 

Godavery  gorge,  296-7 

Gokavaram,  178,  219,  290 

Gollalakoderu,  290 

Gollapalem,  302 


Gonegudem,  290,  310 

Gopalam,  K.  V.,  286 

Gordon,  Mr.,  191 

Gorinta,  208,  245 

Gorlamudi,  236,  279,  301 

Gowripatnam,  141,  144,  178 

Graeff,  J.  E.,  128 

Grahn,  H.,  173, 182, 187,  212,  231,  241, 

264,  324,  336,  383 
Greenville,  Pa.,  28 
Greenwald,  E.,  128,  173,  225 
Gribble,  Mr.,  163 
Grigg,  Mr.,  220 
Groenning,  C.  W.,  77,  84-5,  86,  120, 

122,   123,   124,  125,  128,   139,   144, 

184,  243,  252 
Groenning,  Wm.,  226,  233,  234,  242, 

258;  dies,  260-1 
Gudaparti,  208 

Guddigudem,  218,  219,  220,  230 
Guetzlaff,  Carl,  13,  14 
Gunapudi,  290,  300 
Gunn,  Walter,  58,  77,  78,  80;  dies,  93 
Guntur,  48,  51,  63,  70 
Gurjal,  79,  80,  82,  99 
Gutlapad,  290 


HAAS,  J.  A.  W.,  335,  337,  353 

Haas  lands,  276,  289,  312,  359 

Haeger,  Ch.,  14 

Haeger,  E.,  16 

Haesbert,  J.,  16,  35 

Hager,  C.,  35 

Hagerstown,  Md.,  14,  15,  29 

Hapler,  J.  137 

Harpster,  J.  H.,  309,  321,  338-40,  341, 
342,  345,  351,  356,  358,  365,  370-1, 
373-4 

Harrisburg,  Pa.,  19 

Hartwick  Synod,  61,  88 

Hassler,  J.  W.,  137,  173 

Haupt,  Miss  M.,  380 

Hay,  J.,  191 

Hecht,  J.  P.,  14 

Heckel,  F.  W.,  14 

Heelis,  J.,  208,  257 

Heinitsch,  J.  F.,  16,  35 

Heischmann,  J.  J.,  314,  324,  336,  347 

Heise,  A.,  77,  78,  84,  85,  86,  102;  fur- 
lough, no;  in  India,  in,  120; 
resigns,  122,  145 

Heist,  L.,  325 

Hengerer,  Wm.,  335 

Henry,  J.,  137,  169,  235 

Hermannsburg  Mission,  124,  138,  168 


394 


INDEX 


Heyer,  C.  F.  (Father):  chosen  mis- 
sionary of  Central  Missionary  So- 
ciety, 13;  early  life,  22-25;  early 
ministry,  26-29;  agent  of  Sunday 
School  Union,  29-30;  pastor  at 
Somerset,  Pa.,  30;  home  missionary, 
30^32;  in  Pittsburgh,  31-33;  ap- 
pointed as  foreign  missionary,  17, 19, 
33;  first  journey  to  India,  35-41; 
arrival  in  Guntur,  46-50;  early 
labors  in  Guntur,  51-58;  returns  to 
United  States,  69;  first  furlough,  72- 
74;  returns  to  India,  74,  77;  labors 
in  Palnad,  79-82,  98,  99;  in  Rajah- 
mundry,  102-111;  returns  to  United 
States,  in;  again  home  missionary, 
114-18,  132;  hears  of  transfer  of 
Rajahmundry  Mission  to  Church 
Missionary  Society,  etc.,  134;  third 
journey  to  India,  137,  139-140;  in 
Rajahmundry  the  last  time,  144, 
146,  147,  150;  returns  to  United 
States,  153-4;  dies,  154-5.  165 

Heyer,  C.  F.,  Jr.,  73 

Heyer,  Mrs.  C.  F.,  32 

Heyer,  Theophilus,  73 

Hilprecht,  H.  V.,  241,  294 

Hinterleiter,  G.  A.,  113 

Hobbs,  Mr.,  39 

Hoffmann,  J.  N.,  16 

Holler,  P.,  317,  318,  328 

Holmer,  T.,  *86 

Horine,  M.  C.,  294 

Horn,  E.  T.,  335,  336,  362,  365,  383 

Horn,  E.  T.,  Jr.,  380,  385 

Hospital,  375 

Hunter,  Mrs.  Mary,  273,  291 

Hutter,  C.  J.,  14 

Hutway,  Mr.,  51 

Hymn  book,  242 


ICELANDIC  Synod,  385 

Industrial  work,  311 

Iron  Mountain,  Mo.,  31 

Isaac,  A.,  227 

Isaac,  N.,  211,  217 

Isaacson,  H.  E.,  292,  303,  312,  322, 

328,  334,  337,  345,  348, 367, 374 
Isenschmidt,  P.,  165 
Itter,  Conrad,  324,  336 


JACOB,  80,  103 
Jacob,  V.,  237,  250 


Jacobs,  H.  E.,  336,  362,  383 

Jacobs,  Mrs.  H.  E.,  273,  313 

Jacobson,  F.,  383 

Jaggampetta,  121,  156,  178,  365 

Jagganathpuram,  151,  152,  162,  178, 
189,  203,  220 

Jaggareish,  123 

Jakkaram,  290 

James,  C.,  145,  165,  178,  206,  211,  213, 
226,  230,  242,  248,  286,  349 

Jegurupad, 141, 142, 144, 152, 178,  185, 
218,  221,  225,  229,  290 

Jembupatnam,  310 

Jeremiah,  144,  162,  164,  201 

Jewell,  Mr.,  46 

Jewett,  Mr.,  191 

John,  80 

John,  B.,  1 80 

John,  J.,  211,  217,  283 

John,  Martin  Luther,  103 

Joint  Conference,  309 

Joint  Theological  Seminary,  388-9 

Joseph,  1 01 

Joseph,  K.,  219 

Joseph,  Pastor  T.,  142,  145,  178;  or- 
dained, 185-6,  189,  218,  225,  229, 
230,  250,  284,  313,  328 

Joseph,  T.  Samuel,  211 

Jubilee,  397-8 

Jugdalpur,  209 

Juggernaut,  214 


Kaehler,  F.  A.,  385 
Kaehler,  Mrs.  F.  A.,  321 
Kamarada,  290 
Kanzamur,  299 
Katchalur,  164 
Kateru,  310 
Kaufmann,  L.  W.,  335 
Keiser,  J.  R.,  76 
Keller,  F.  A.  M.,  113 
Keller,  M.,  14 
Kinerapur,  299 
Kohler,  J.,  137 
Kohlhoff,  40 
Kois,  163 
Kolacotta,  99,  109 
Kolamur,  290 
Kondamodalu,  169 
Kondapudi,  283 
Konitalapalli,  290 
Konitivada,  298 
Kopella,  290,  302 
Korapad,  290 


INDEX 


395 


Korukonda,  156,  170,  178,  217,  230, 

237,  257,  365 
Kotagiri,  258,  320,  324 
Kotalingam,  52 
Kotlamur,  100,  208 
Kottapetta,  53 
Kottapilli,  165 
Kovur,  218,  257 
Kovvada,  290 

Krauth,  C.  Philip,  15,  16,  17,  18,  28 
Kremmer,  C.  F.,  166,  168 
Krotel,  G.  F.,  272 
Kuder,  C.  F.,  278,  286,  290,  304,  307, 

3(39,  327-8,  356,  363,  366-7,  375 
Kuendig,  J.  J.,  137,  173 
Kugler,  Dr.  Anna  S.,  309 
Kummadavelli,  203,  290 
Kunkleman,  J.  A.,  182 
Kurtz,  Benj.,  28,  62 


Lace,  184-5,  3n,  359-6* 

Laird,  S.,  193,  212,  222 

Laird,  Mrs.  S.,  273 

Lancaster,  Pa.,  14 

Land  endowment,  177 

Lankapuram,  276 

Larson,  O.  L.,  351,  365 

Lauer,  F.,  137,  173 

Lavel,  S.,  103 

Lazarus,  M.,  299 

Lee,  Mr.,  45 

Lehmanowsky,  Mr.,  31 

Leipsic  Mission,  235 

Lewis,  Mr.,  191 

Lilja,  B.,  211 

Lintner,  G.  A.,  18,  61,  92,  113,  128 

Lochmann,  Mr.,  36 

Lolla,  178,  189 

London  Missionary  Society,  45 

Long,  A.,  112,  119,  120,  121,  122;  dies, 

126 
Lydia,  107 

M 

MACHERLA,  82,  99,  209 

Madagascar,  38 

Madras,  40 

Madura,  40 

Mahadevipatnam,  189,  193,  202,  290 

Mallaishwaram,  220 

Mallipudi,  174,  189,  298 

Mandada,  123 

Mann,  Wm.  J.,  113,  250 

Mantur,  164 


March,  Geo.  W.,  324 

Marie,  107 

Martin,  Chas.,  76 

Martz,  G.  W.,  80,  87 

Masulipatam,  62 

Matthew,  80 

Matthews,  G.  B.,  330 

Mattes,  H.  L.,  173 

Mayer,  Dr.,  55,  76,  88 

Meadville,  Pa.,  26,  27 

Mechanicsburg,  Pa.,  13 

McCready,  F.  J.,  223,  227,  229,  236, 

238,  244,  251,  257,  269,  284,  290, 

302,  311,  321,327 
McCron,  D.  J.,  32,  76 
Mechling,  G.  W.,  335 
Medical  work,  305,   321,  337-8,  347, 

349,  350,  375-7 
Medtart,  J.,  14 
Mennig,  Mr.,  88,  113 
Mertz,  G.  W.,  14 
Metcalf,  E.  P.,  236 
Metta,  141,  152,  162,  178,  213 
Meyer,  Val.  L.,  234,  243 
Miller,  C.,  14,  19 
Miller,  C.  Armand,  384 
Miller,  N.  S.,  16,  19,  35 
Miller,  J.  Wash.,  241,  294,  324 
Ministerium  Missionary  Society,   14, 

15,  19-21,  59-60,  87 
Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania,  12,  14, 

136,  137,  171,  173 
Mission  Council,  249,  255,  273 
Missionsblatt,  182,  183 
Missionsbote,  185,  187,  201,  211,  225, 

254,  263-4,  294,  337 
Mohammedan  Schools,  220,  221,  233, 

235,  245,  251,  255,  275,  278-9,  304, 

310 
Monroe,  Miss  S.  E.,  198,   340,   343, 

364 
Monroe,  W.  F.,   280,   294,  336,  347, 

384 

Moonakodavelli,  282 
Moparti,  100 

Morris,  Henry,  124,  126,  144,  152 
Morris,  J.  G.,  36,  59,  62 
Moses,  P.,  219 
Mueller,  E.  H.,  317-18,  327 
Mueller,  Mr.,  16,  19,  39 
Muhlenberg,  F.  A.,  137 
Muhlenberg,  H.  H.,  137,  173 
Muhlenberg,  Henry  Melchior,  n,  87 
Muramunda,  97,  124,  141,  142,  146, 

152,  178,  185,  189,  250, 303 
Mutakuru,  123 
Mylius,  Aug.,  125 


396 


INDEX 


NAGEL,  Mr.,  86 
Nallakonda,  310 
Nallapadu,  53 
Nandamur,  218,  230 
Narasimhapalem,  290 
Narsapur,  46,  78,  151,  157,  162 
Nellore,  46-7-8 
Nelsenius,  G.,  294,  353 
Neudoerffer,  A.  F.  A.,  374,  381-2 
Neudoerffer,  E.,  330,  337,  338,  345, 

3Si,  365,  374 
Neumann,  R.,  128,  134 
Nevalikanner,  100 
Newill,  Mr.,  51,  52,  78,  109 
New  York  Synod,  88 
Nicodemus,  77 
Niedecker,  E.,  324 
Nilsson,  Dr.  Betty  A.,  350,  364 
Nizam's  kingdom,  174 
Noble,  Mr.,  46 
North    German    Missionary    Society, 

83  86,  90 
Norton,  C.  F.,  172 
Noxendorf,  Mrs  E.  V.,  268 


OCHS,  Mr.,  65 

Ockershausen,  G.  P.,  128 

Oettinger,  Albert,  324,  336 

O'Neil,  Capt.,  51 

Ongole,  48 

Opp,  C.  B.,  325,  347 

Organization  in  India,  248,  265-8 


PALAMCOTTA,  16,  39 

Palkole,  86,  203,  220 

Palnad,  78,  79,  98-9 

Pamperrien,  K.,  307 

Paradesi,  P.,  375 

Paradesi,  Raya,  178 

Parravalli,  152 

Passavant,  Wm.  A.,  88,  114 

Paulus,  Pastor  N.,  80,  142,  145-6,  164, 
178;  ordained,  185-6,  189,  211,  218, 
224,  229,  230,  237,  313;  dies,  325-6 

Peddahem,  141,  178,  213,  220,  230 

Peddamiram,  290,  302 

Peddapur,  121,  152,  169,  208 

Peddapur  High  School,  312,  342,  359, 

367 

Peeru,  103 
Peixotto,  E.,  14 


Penakalametta,  220 

Pennagonda,  220 

Pentapad,  316 

Peravaram,  141,  178,  189 

Peter,  too 

Peter,  180 

Petri,  C.  J.,  193 

Pfatteicher,  Mrs.  E.,  271 

Pillutla,  109,  123 

Pittapur,  121,  291 

Pittsburgh,  31 

Pittsburgh  Synod,  88,  253 

Pluetschau,  n,  40,  354 

Plymouth  Brethren,  156,  257 

Pohl,  E.,  208,  220,  262-3,  273,  276-7, 
285-6,  292,  298,  303,  309,  310,  314, 
315-17,  328 

Pohle,  E.  J.,  253,  324 

Pohlmann,  H.  N.,  18,  60,  76,  91,  128 

Polavaram,  213,  219 

Polepalli,  79,  80,  82,  99,  123 

Pondicherry,  40 

Porter,  Mr.,  49 

Potteiger,  Mr.,  173 

Poulsen,  I.  K.,  152-3,  162,  163,  166, 
169,  174,  178,  185;  furlough,  192, 
196;  returns  to  India,  208,  218,  223, 
226,  227,  229,  230,  238,  240,  242, 
244;  retires  and  dies,  249 

Prakasam,  N.,  164,  219 

Prattipadu,  53 

Pretz,  C.,  137 

Pritchett,  Mr.,  45 

Printery,  236,  257,  357 

Probst,  Miss  C.,  273 

Publications,  255,  278,  357 

Purushottapatnam,  164,  219 


RAGAMPET,  208,  235 
Rahitapuram,  283 
Rajagopalem,  208 
Rajahmundry,  77,  83,  90,  96 
Rajahmundry  (under  General  Coun- 
cil), 141,  168,  178,  195,  221,  229 
Rajanagaram,  178 
"Rama  dandu,"  224 
Rampa,  288,  290,  310 
Rampa  Fund,  227,  242,  288 
Ramsay,  Gov.,  115 
Rangoon,  356 
Ranseen,  M.  C.,  369 
Rapaka,  283 
Rath,  Wm.,  137 
Rebecca,  78 
Reck,  A.,  28 


INDEX 


397 


Reddis,  163 

Reformation,   Church  of,   Rochester, 

N.  Y.,  385 

Reichert,  G.  A.,  16,  76,  113 
Rettivardu,  80 
Rhenius,  14,  15,  16,  39 
Richards,  J.  W.,  15,  87,  88,  113 
Riter,  F.  M.,  383,  384 
Riverdale,  197,  201 
Rohillas,  209 

Rohrer,  Dr.  Amy  B.,  350,  368,  374 
Romig,  I.  G.,  335 
Rules  and  Regulations,  219,  225,  248, 

326-7,  339-40,  362,  369 
Ruth,  58,  107,  1 20,  166 
Ruthrauff,  F.,  14 
Ruthrauff,  Miss  E.,  75 
Rydberg,  P.  A.,  347 


S 


SADTLER,  Miss  K.  S.,  269,  271,  278, 
304,  309,  318,  321,  322 

Sagapadu,  290 

Sahm,  J.,  14 

Salary  scale,  263 

Salem  Church,  Lebanon,  Pa.,  74,  88 

Salur,  209,  221 

Samuel,  80 

Samuel,  A.,  219 

Samuel,  R.,  311 

Samulkot,  121,  122,  126,  178,  208,  218, 
219,  222,  223,  229,  235,  238,  240, 
250,  260,  374 

Satur,  39 

Schade,  Miss  A.  I.,  268-9,  271,  2?8, 
304,  309,  310,  322,  334,  343-4,  364, 
374 

Schaefer,  F.  W.,  374,  379-80 

Schaeffer,  C.  W.,  14,  74,  137,  173,  200, 
289,  294,  324 

Schaeffer,  Wm.  Ashmead,  193,  200, 
211,  253,  294,  323,  324,  336,  358-9 

Schantz,  F.  J.  F.,  137,  173 

Schmauk,  B.  W.,  137,  173 

Schmauk,  T.  E.,  381 

Schmidt,  Fr.,  16,  35 

Schmidt,  H.  C.,  128,  135,  147-9,  J62, 
167,  168,  175,  178,  191,  197;  first 
furlough,  214,  225,  228-9,  236,  239, 
242,  243,  248,  256,  257,  275,  281-3, 
288-9,  290,  291;  second  furlough, 
302,  308,  312,  314,  328;  recalled, 
335,  337,  34S-6,  dies,  372-3 

Schmucker,  B.  M.,  137,  173,  182,  193, 
223,  252-3 


Schmucker,  S.  S.,  16,  19 

Scholl,  Wm.  N.,  76,  91 

Schultze,  Dr.,  45 

Schwartz,  C.  F.,  39,  40 

Schwartz,  Mr.,  65 

Scudder,  Dr.,  81 

Seesali,  290 

Seiple,  Dr.  S.  C.,  336,  369,  383 

Self-support,  187,  207,  211,  226,  244 

Senderling,  J.  Z.,  60,  76,  91,  113,  128 

Sharkey,  Rev.,  82 

Sibole,  E.  E.,  231,  294,  324,  336,  353 

368 

Sibole,  J.  L.,  280,  324,  330 
Sibole,  Mrs.  J.  L.,  273 
Simeon,  100 
Sipes,  H.  H.,  386      . 
Sitanagram,  282 
Slaett,  C.  E.,  336 
Smith,  C.  A.,  325 
Smith,  Chas.  A.,  76,  91 
Smith,  Dr.,  51 

Snyder,  Jas.  M.,  335,  336,  362,  383 
Snyder,  Wm.  E.,  92, 102, 103, 107, 120; 

dies,  1 20,  145 

Somerset,  Pa.,  28,  31,  114,  117 
Solomonson,  C.,  384 
Spaeth,  A.,  149,  154,  182,  187,  212, 

272,  278,  289 
Spieker,  G.  F.,  173 
Sprecher,  S.,  16,  19 
Sringaram,  220 

Sriramulu,  V.,  227,  249,  256,  356 
Srirangapatam,  257,  310 
Srungavruksham,  290,  300 
Staake,  Wm.  H.,  182,  294,  323,  324-5, 

336 
Statistics,  66,  102,  103,  163,  179,  192, 

200,  221,  225,  230,  239,  250,  275, 

288,  291,  314,  336,  355,  386 
Stephen,  77,  78,  100 
Stoever,  Miss  S.  M.,  64 
Stohlmann,  C.  F.  E.,  76,  88 
Stokes,  H.,  48,  51,  52,  55,  62,  65,  74 

75,  79,  8,2,  101,  104,  244 
Stork,  T.,  64,  76 
Stoystown,  28 
S  track,  Chr.,  14 

Strempfer,  Miss  M.,  319,  331,  343 
Stroebel,  W.  D.,  76,  80,  91 
St.  James',  N.  Y.,  76 
St.    Johannis'    Church,   Philadelphia, 

Pa.,  149,  292 
St.    Johannis'   Church,  Reading,  Pa. , 

3i3 

St.  John's,  Allentown,  Pa.,  278,  385 
St.  John's,  Baltimore,  Md.,  72 


INDEX 


St.  John's,  Easton,  Pa.,  88,  113 

St.  John's,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  16,    19, 

36,  S3,  55,  76,  88,  225,  272,  344 
St.  Luke's,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  292 
St.  Mark's,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  198, 

222,  225,  344 
St.  Matthew's,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,   64, 

76 
St.  Michael's,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  15, 

88,  113,  214 

St.  Paul's,  Rajahmundry,  184,  230 
St.  Peter's,  Tallapudi,  251,  254,    255, 

273,  284 

Subbarayudu,  V.,  213,  216,  250 
Sultan  of  Muscat,  38 
Sunday  School  Union,  29 
Swamp  Church,  Pa.,  113 
Swedish  District  Secretary,  384 
Swedish  Emmanuel  Church,  Chicago, 

279,  363 
Swedish  Lutheran  Church,  St.  Paul, 

Minn.,  385 
Swenson,    Miss   C.,    313-14,    310-20, 

321,322,  331,349-5° 
Synod  in  India,  100,  101,  102 
Synod  of  South  Carolina,  36,  64 


TADEPAIXIGUDEM,  156,  291,  314,  315, 

317,  345,  365 
Taderu,  203,  302 
Tallapudi,  156,  213,  218,  220,  221,  227, 

229,  230,  244,  289,  345,  365 
Tanjore,  40 
Taralla,  123 
Tatge,  Miss  A.,  380 
Taylor,  Capt.,  in,  112,  124,  126,  151, 

166,  228 

Taylor's  petta,  144,  151,  152 
Telleen,  J.,  289,  323,  340 
Telugu:   country,  42-45;  examination, 

293-4;  language,  159-61 
Thompson,  Mr.,  40 
Timothy,  N.,  219 
Tinnevelly,  19 
Todd,  Capt.,  121 
Trabert,  G.  H.,  278 
Trafford,  E.  H.,  347 
Training  School  for  Masters,  367 
Tranquebar,  40 
Trexler,  H.,  137,  173 
Trichinopoly,  40 

Trinity  Church,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  385 
Trinity  Church,  Kutztown,  Pa.,  113 
Trinity  Church,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  88, 

225,  236,  380-1 


Trinity  Church,  New  York,  279 
Trinity  Church,  Pottsville,  Pa.,  88,  113 
Trinity   Church,   Reading,   Pa.,    113, 

i 20,  385 
Tumurucotta,  80 
Tuticorin,  39 
Tutigunta,  230 


UHL,  L.  L.,  309 

Uhl's,  Md.,  28 

Unangst,  E.,  112,  119,  120,  126,  129, 

130,  3°9 
Undi,  290 
Ungalur,  164 
Unikili,  298-9 


VAIMPAD,  301 

Valett,  64,  65,  77,  83,  84,  95 

Vanderslice,  Mrs.  H.  M.,  273 

Van  der  Veer,  Dr.  Julia,  350-1 

Vandra,  236,  299-300 

Vangalapudi,  283 

Van  Husen,  47 

Van  Somering,  56 

Van  Stavern,  T.,  213,  222,  240 

Veit,  F.,  324 

Veldurti,  80,  82,  86,  99,  123 

Velpur,  151,  178,  203,  218,  220,  222, 

224,  229,  298 
Venkataratnam,  P.,  180,  189,  207,  215, 

230,  241,  275,  327,  338,  342 
Vissakoderu,  236,  290,  300 
Vodali,  203,  220 

W 

WACKERNAGEL,  F.  W.,  341,  349,  363 

Wagner,  M.  L.,  335 

Wahlberg,  Miss  H.,  340 

Walker,  Mr.,  54,  55 

Walter,  Judge,  51 

Walz,  F.,  173 

Wedekind,  Mr.,  128 

Weidner,  R.  F.,  211 

Weiskotten,  F.  W.,  211,  263,  324,  330, 

332,  333 
Weiskotten,  Miss  E.  L.,  331,  343,  344, 

356 

Wellersville,  Pa.,  28 
Werner,  O.  V.,  374,  379 
West  Pennsylvania  Synod,  13,  29 
Weyl,  J.  A.,  353,  384 
Weyman,  G.,  31 


INDEX 


399 


Weyman,  Miss  H.,  99,  109 

Widows,  44 

Widows'  Fund,  249 

William,  J.,  145,  165,  178,  206,  213, 
220,  220,  254,  327-8 

William,  M.,  180,  286,  311 

Wischan,  F.,  182,  187,  231,  263 

Witting,  I.  F.,  386 

Woerner,  Dr.  Lydia,  321,  337,  347, 
35°,  356,  3?6,  386 

Wolf,  L.  B.,  309,  370 

Wolters,  K.  L.,  347,  365 

Women's  work,  267-8,  269-71 

Women's  Societies,  15,  273,  278,  279- 
80,  295,  305-6,  321;  federation, 
377-8;  of  Augustana  Synod,  385; 
of  New  York  and  New  England 
Synod,  385;  of  Pittsburgh  Synod, 

385 

Wood,  Judge,  51 
Wynekin,  Mr.,  83 


YAIMIGALOGUDEM,  164 
Yeager,  N.,  113 
Yellaishwaram,  227 
Yellavaram,  288 
York,  Pa.,  13 
Yough,  Md.,  28 
Young,  Miss  L.,  75 
Youngert,  S.  G.,  384 


ZACCHEUS,  123 
Zanzibar,  38 
Zenana  Home,  281,  318 
Zenana  work,  205,  304 
Zieber,  Philip  S.,  336 
Ziegenbalg,  11,4°,  354 
Ziegenfuss,  S.  A.,  294,  324,  325,  330 
Zion's  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  88 
"3 


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